Woods County Equalization Board denies Redline protest, upholds assessor valuation on pipeline

At a Woods County Equalization Board meeting, the board voted to deny a tax protest filed by Redline and accepted the county assessor’s valuation of a pipeline associated with a gas well, the board announced during the hearing.

The protest centered on whether the pipeline should be taxed as county personal property (assessed to the pipeline owner) or treated as part of the producer’s wellsite subject to gross production taxation. Redline’s attorney argued the line is necessary for production and that taxing it separately would constitute double taxation; county representatives and the board questioned ownership history, easements and whether prior owners had been consistently taxed.

Redline’s attorney, Wyatt Swender, told the board the company views separate taxation of the line as unfair, calling it “an additional tax, a…