BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Board of Equalization (BOE) heard an appeal from Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri of the 2017 tax assessment for components of their commercial gas distribution center. The board met July 24 in regular session with Robert J. Cecil, CPA, Ameren state and local tax manager, presenting Ameren's case. BOE members are Greg Mathis, Carol Jarrell, Steve Jordan, Mike Bollinger and Mary Worley.
Ameren first appealed the assessment in Stoddard County in 2013. Stoddard County is one of 16 counties where appeals of tax assessments have been filed by Ameren. Other southeast Missouri counties are Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Butler and Scott. The utility company claims the assessed valuations of its property in those counties have been too high, so its tax bills have also been too high.
Ameren previously appealed to the State Tax Commission, but the Commission ruled in favor of the counties.
The state Supreme Court was set to take on the the disputes over the 2013 assessments, but in April, the court sent it back to the lower appeals courts.
Cecil said Ameren failed to get a favorable ruling from the State Tax Commission because they did not present an outside formal appraisal for the gas distribution system. He presented the board with a 50-page tax appraisal that was prepared in January 2015. He said the appraisal showed the gas distribution system was valued at one-half of its original cost. He said Ameren only wanted a "fair" appraisal and the appraisal used by the county did not take into account depreciation.
Cecil compared the appraisal to that of buying a new car. He said the buyer does not continue to pay taxes on the original price of the car.
"We want to be treated the same as any other business," said Cecil.
County Assessor Jody Lemmon said Ameren was trying to get a state appraisal instead of leaving it up to individual counties. He said depreciation was already factored into the county appraisal.
Cecil noted that the state is setting the appraisal for the electrical system, and Ameren wanted the same treatment for its gas system.
The appeal by Ameren in Stoddard County showed a 2016 assessment of $9,080,500 for real property and $1,334,309 for personal property. No appraised values were given for 2017. Stoddard County Assessor Jody Lemmon said the 2017 appraisal amounts were available to Ameren representatives.
For as long as the legal battle continues, the property taxes Ameren has paid under protest remain locked in escrow with the counties -- revenue that has not been flowing into the budgets of taxing districts like public schools, fire departments, libraries, public works, the counties and the state. The amount held in escrow in Stoddard County is $376,015.84 as of July 11.
About $13 million combined in the 16 counties is being held in escrow. That money was paid in protest by Ameren from 2013 through 2016. The money in escrow increases by about $3.5 million a year.
Ameren officials list a far different escrow balance.
Warren Wood, Ameren's vice president for external affairs and communications, said Ameren paid about $591 million in property taxes. Only $8.6 million of that is in dispute, or less than 1.5 percent, he said.
"Since this is in litigation, why are you doing this?" asked Lemmon.
"We just want some type of normal depreciation," responded Cecil.
"A lot of money has been spent on this," said Lemmon. "We want you to be assessed fairly, but what you are asking for is preferential treatment."
Mathis told Cecil the board would look over the information provided by Ameren before making a ruling.
"I'll be frank with you," stated Mathis. "I represent the school districts, townships and others who depend on taxes to provide services, and I think you are making these appeals to break the counties and win your lawsuit."
To date, assessors and a number of school districts have spent $1.2 million on their legal defense.
But Ameren officials continue to argue the assessments are too high, and it puts an unfair burden on its customers.
Ameren spokesman Brad Brown wrote in a follow-up email that "this is a simple issue about protecting our customers from inappropriate increases in their utility bills. A dollar of tax to the utility is a dollar of cost to our customers."
During a meeting of county assessors and Ameren representatives, Cape Girardeau County Assessor Bob Adams said an assessor asked whether Ameren would reduce its gas customers' bills if the assessments were lowered.
"They said, 'no,'" Adams recalled.
Local taxpayers would pay more if Ameren prevails in this tax dispute, he said. Local governments would be able to raise their levies to recover the lost revenue, according to Adams.
"Eighty percent of that ends up on residential customers," he said.
Mark Bliss of the Southeast Missourian contributed information for this article.