Williams Production RMT Co. v. Wyoming Department of Revenue

2008 WY 155, 197 P.3d 1258, 170 Oil & Gas Rep. 761, 2008 Wyo. LEXIS 162, 2008 WL 5412332
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 2008
DocketNo. S-08-0018
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2008 WY 155 (Williams Production RMT Co. v. Wyoming Department of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams Production RMT Co. v. Wyoming Department of Revenue, 2008 WY 155, 197 P.3d 1258, 170 Oil & Gas Rep. 761, 2008 Wyo. LEXIS 162, 2008 WL 5412332 (Wyo. 2008).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[11] After the Wyoming State Board of Equalization (Board) affirmed the Depart[1260]*1260ment of Revenue's (DOR) valuations of Williams Production RMT Company's (Williams) coal bed methane (CBM) production for production years 2000-2002, Williams sought review in district court. The DOR moved for, the district court ordered and this Court accepted certification pursuant to W.R.A.P. 12.09(b). The principal issue for our determination is whether, as the Board ruled, the point of valuation of Williams' 2000-2002 CBM production was at the outlet of the initial dehydrator pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § (LexisNexis 2007), or, as Williams maintains, was upstream from the initial dehydrator where Williams transferred the CBM by bona fide arms-length transaction to a third party for transportation. For the reasons set forth in Kennedy Oil v. Wyo. Dep't of Revenue, 2008 WY 154, - P.3d - (Wyo.2008), we affirm the Board's ruling as to the point of valuation. On the two secondary issues, we affirm the Board's ruling on the deduction allowed for downstream transportation costs and reverse the Board's decision denying Williams an on-lease fuel exemption.

ISSUES

[T2] The following issues are determinative of this appeal:

1. Whether the Board correctly determined that the point of valuation of CBM for severance and ad valorem tax purposes is at the outlet of the initial dehydrator rather than upstream where Williams sold or transferred it to a third party.

2. Whether the Board's ruling on the deduction allowed for transportation costs downstream of the outlet of the initial dehydrator was supported by substantial evidence.

3. Whether the Board's ruling denying Williams a fuel use exemption was supported by substantial evidence.

FACTS

[13] In 2000, 2001 and 2002, Williams produced CBM from the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming. Williams entered into a contract with Western Gas (Western) pursuant to which Williams transferred the CBM to Western at Western's serew compressor facility for transportation downstream to additional compressors, the dehydrator and the inlets of the Fort Union or MIGC pipeline.

[14] For production years 2000-2002, Williams considered the point of valuation to be the place of transfer and calculated and paid production taxes by deducting from the CBM sales price the fees charged by Western.1 In 2006, the Wyoming Department of Audit (DOA) completed an audit of Williams' 2000-2002 CBM production from the Powder River Basin. The DOA re-evaluated Williams' production and disallowed the deduction of Western's fees. The DOA issued a final decision letter to Williams in August of 2006 finding that Williams owed an additional $2,030,406.01 in severance taxes for the 2000-2002 production years. The DOR adopted the DOA's findings and issued a letter notifying Williams that it owed the additional amount.

[15] Williams appealed the decision to the Board, which held a three-day contested case hearing in March of 2007. At the hearing, Williams asserted that § 39-14-208(b)(v) controlled the valuation of CBM transported by a third party prior to the outlet of the initial dehydrator and that paragraph (b)(v) worked with paragraph (b)(vi)(B) to allow the deduction of all third party charges, including those upstream from the outlet of the initial dehydrator. The DOR contended that the outlet of the initial dehydrator was the point of valuation of CBM and third party charges upstream from the point of valuation were not deductible in determining fair market value.

[16] In the course of the hearing, the parties agreed that portions of the audit required recalculation, including the disallow ance of an exemption for fuel Western consumed in the production process upstream from the outlet of the initial dehydrator. At the close of the hearing, the Board directed the parties to provide recalculated figures to each other and then submit briefs addressing [1261]*1261the recalculation. Upon considering the parties' supplemental briefs, the Board affirmed the DOR's valuation, concluding that § 89-14-208(b)(iv) requires taxable value to include third party fees incurred prior to the outlet to the initial dehydrator. Addressing the collateral issue of Williams' entitlement to a fuel use exemption, the Board concluded that Williams failed to carry its burdens of proof and persuasion because it provided no evidence to support its claim. Williams filed a petition for review of the Board's decision in the district court, which certified the matter to this Court.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[17] Our review of administrative ageney action is governed by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-114 (LexisNexis 2007), which provides in pertinent part:

(c) To the extent necessary to make a decision and when presented, the reviewing court shall decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action. In making the following determinations, the court shall review the whole record or those parts of it cited by a party and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error. The reviewing court shall:
(i) Compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed; and
(i) Hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings and conclusions found to be:
(A) Arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law;
(B) Contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege or immunity;
(C) In exeess of statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations or lacking statutory right;
(D) Without observance of procedure required by law; or
(E) Unsupported by substantial evidence in a case reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute.

[18] When reviewing a case certified to us from a district court pursuant to W.R.A.P. 12.09(b), we apply the appellate standards applicable to a reviewing court of the first instance. Williams Prod. RMT Co. v. State Dep't of Revenue, 2005 WY 28, ¶ 7, 107 P.3d 179, 182-183 (Wyo.2005) (Williams I). We review factual determinations for substantial evidence, meaning we consider whether there is relevant evidence in the entire record which a reasonable mind might accept in support of the agency's conclusions. Dale v. S & S Builders, LLC, 2008 WY 84, ¶ 21, 188 P.3d 554, 561 (Wyo.2008). Importantly, our review of any particular decision turns not on whether we agree with the outcome, but on whether the agency could reasonably conclude as it did based upon all of the evidence presented. Id., ¶ 23, 188 P.3d at 561. The burden of proof with respect to tax valuation is on the party asserting an improper valuation. Williams I, ¶ 7, 107 P.3d at 183. We review an agency's conclusions of law de novo, and will affirm an agency's legal conclusion only if it is in accordance with the law. Dale, ¶ 27, 188 P.3d at 562. Statutory interpretation is a question of law and is reviewed de novo. Williams I, ¶ 8, 107 P.3d at 183.

DISCUSSION

1. Point of Valuation

[19] Section 39-14-208 provided in relevant part as follows:

§ 39-14-2033. Imposition
(a) Taxable event. The following shall apply:

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2008 WY 155, 197 P.3d 1258, 170 Oil & Gas Rep. 761, 2008 Wyo. LEXIS 162, 2008 WL 5412332, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-production-rmt-co-v-wyoming-department-of-revenue-wyo-2008.