98-0845
____________________________________
KRYSTAL
ENERGY, INC., ) ORDER
:
Petitioner, : Appeal No. 98-0845
: Parcel No.
v. :
: Tax Type: Property
Tax/Locally Assessed
PROPERTY TAX
DIVISION :
OF THE UTAH
STATE TAX, ) Tax Year:
COMMISSION, :
: Judge: Davis
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
Presiding:
G. Blaine Davis, Administrative Law Judge
Appearances:
For Petitioner: No
one appeared
For
Respondent: Mr.
John McCarrey, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Brent Eyere, Mr. Marlo Edwards and Mr. Mark Maxfield,
from the Property Tax Division
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This
matter came before the Commission for an Initial Hearing pursuant to the
provisions of Utah Code Ann. §59-1-502.5, on April 26, 1999.
The
issue in this proceeding is whether the 1998 assessment was properly made
against Cross Creek Corporation.
Respondent
made an assessment against Cross Creek Corporation for certain oil properties
with an assessed value of $292,220.
Krystal
Energy, the Petitioner hearin, filed an appeal in which it alleged that the
well that was the subject of the assessment had been transferred to it prior to
the lien date, and that Krystal Energy is a 100 percent Navajo owned
Corporation which was not subject to taxes.
Krystal Energy claimed it is the operator, but had been unable to
transfer the title because it had not obtained an EPA bond.
At
the hearing, Respondent presented evidence indicating that Cross Creek is the
owner operator of the property, and is so shown as the owner and operator on
the records of the Division of Oil Gas and Mining with the State of Utah, and
that even two years after the assessment, the records of DOGM still show Cross
Creek as the owner or operator of the property.
APPLICABLE LAW
Petitioner
has the burden to establish that it is entitled to the requested relief. To
prevail in this real property tax dispute, the Petitioner must establish that
it is an Indian Corporation and was the owner or operator of the property as of
the lien date in question. Petitioner
has failed to meet that burden of proof.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that the assessment made by Respondent
against Cross Creek was a proper assessment, and there has been no evidence
submitted to establish the property was owned or operated by an exempt Indian
Corporation. Therefore, the assessment
in the amount of $292,220 is sustained.
This
decision does not limit a party's right to a Formal Hearing. However, this Decision and Order will become
the Final Decision and Order of the Commission unless any party to this case
files a written request within thirty (30) days of the date of this decision to
proceed to a Formal Hearing. Such a
request shall be mailed to the address listed below and must include the
Petitioner's name, address, and appeal number:
Utah State Tax Commission
Appeals Division
210 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84134
Failure
to request a Formal Hearing will preclude any further appeal rights in this
matter.
DATED this 17TH day of
May, 1999.
____________________________________
G. Blaine Davis
Administrative Law
Judge
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
The
Commission has reviewed this case and the undersigned concur in this decision.
DATED this 17th day of
May, 1999.
Richard B.
McKeown Pam
Hendrickson
Chairman Commissioner
R. Bruce
Johnson
Commissioner
^^