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Assessor urges reversal of OTA valuation that applied 35% obsolescence; pipeline owner defends OTA findings
Summary
A dispute over property tax valuation centered on whether the Office of Tax Appeals properly quantified economic obsolescence for Mark West's pipelines. The assessor argued OTA substituted its own appraisal (applying a 35% FERC‑based ratio) without record support; Mark West's counsel defended the OTA's factual findings and expert methodology linking reduced throughput to valuation loss.
Michael Dunham, counsel for the Wetzel County assessor's office, argued that the assessor's valuation is presumptively correct and that the Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) improperly filled an evidentiary gap by adopting a 35% economic‑obsolescence adjustment derived from FERC accounting and applying it to the assessor's replacement‑cost base. Dunham said the OTA's adjustment was untethered to the record and inconsistent with West Virginia statutory and case law and that revenue trends and throughputs in the record did not show a year‑over‑year decline.
Mark West's counsel, Alex Zerbo, defended the OTA's lengthy factual findings, the expert methodology used to evaluate economic obsolescence, and the connection the OTA drew between COVID‑era changes in production and a decline in pipeline utilization. Zerbo emphasized that OTA held hearings with live testimony and made credibility determinations; he argued deference is owed to OTA's factual findings unless clearly wrong. The panel questioned both sides on standards of review, whether OTA may draw inferences like judicial notice of pandemic effects, and whether the OTA's chosen percentage had a sound evidentiary basis.
