Calumet Montana Refining has appealed to the Montana Tax Appeal Board, asking them to override the county tax appeal board’s denial and lower their taxable value for 2023 by about $189 million.

The Montana Department of Revenue valued Calumet’s land at $118,944; and the buildings, equipment and improvements at $299,428,094 for a total of $299,547,035.

During a November hearing, Calumet asked the Cascade County Tax Appeal Board to lower their valuation for the buildings, equipment and improvements to $109,881,000 for a total of $109,999,944.

Calumet settles with EPA over 2019 violations

That’s a reduction of $189.5 million.

The county board denied the request.

In mid-December, Calumet appealed the decision to the Montana Tax Appeal Board as they did in 2018.

According to the appeal filed with the state board, Calumet is asking for their total valuation to be lowered to $110,000,000.

In their appeal, Calumet states that the county board and the DOR used the incorrect methodology to determine their valuation and that they’d be prepared for a hearing by Sept. 30, 2024.

City Commission approves property tax, library levy

During their November hearing, Philip Murphy for Calumet, said that their taxes have quadrupled since the company purchased the refinery in 2012.

He said that in 2012, their taxes were $1.4 million. In 2021, Calumet paid $5.5 million and in 2022, $6.2 million in taxes.

Calumet spun off a portion of their property, operations and equipment to create Montana Renewables, a biodiesel fuel production company.

Local officials waiting for details of potential tax appeal

Murphy said the whole property and operation was bifurcated into two closed loop systems, leaving Calumet with the lower value assets and reduced production capacity for crude oil.

Murphy said during the November hearing that they weren’t contesting the valuation for Montana Renewables.

Calumet argued to the county tax appeal board that the DoR didn’t assess them equally, compared to the other three refineries in the state, as the local refinery was smaller with more limited operations than the others. They argued they should be assessed at a lower rate than the other refineries.

Commissioners approve assessments, awaiting details of tax appeal

Calumet argued that Exxon sold their Billings refinery for $310 million this year and that refinery had higher capacity than Calumet.

Michael Barber, an appraiser with DoR, said the department did consider Calumet’s concerns over the summer during their informal review of Calumet’s tax assessment.

During the November county board hearing, Barber explained the department’s process, as defined by state law and regulations, and that DoR had to use a specific approach to determine Calumet’s market value since Calumet didn’t provide the requested data for a different approach.

County Commission adopts budget

Of Calumet’s valuation, there’s $3,444,610 that’s taxed at 50 percent under an abatement approved by City and County Commissioners.

Barber said the refinery has made $370 million worth of improvements since purchasing the refinery in 2012.

Jill Gallagher of DoR said the department used the same process to determine valuations for the other refineries in the state.

During their Nov. 13 deliberations, Jean Clary said that “this is a pretty complex property,” but she was leaning toward sticking with the DoR valuation.

Montana Renewables begins delivering sustainable aviation fuel

Chuck Pankratz, board member, said that he was leaning toward the DoR valuation since they have a consistent method of valuing refineries.

During their board discussion, they said Calumet’s own documentation valued the property and operation at $341 million, accounting for depreciation.

County approves Calumet tax abatement

The board voted unanimously in November to uphold the DoR’s valuation for Calumet.

Calumet protested their taxes in 2019, which was a continuation of the 2017-2018 protest cast that was settled in 2020.

City approves Calumet tax abatement

The Montana Department of Revenue set Calumet’s value at $538 million for 2017. In February 2018, the three-person county tax appeal board lowered the value to $312.5 million. Calumet had requested their value be lowered to $190.7 million.

Dept. of Revenue files appeal over Calumet taxes

Both Calumet and the DOR appealed that decision to the Montana Tax Appeal Board in 2018.

In 2020, the parties settled and according to DoR, of the roughly $17 million paid by Calumet under protest for tax years 2017-2019, about $9.5 million was released to the local jurisdictions and $1.5 million to the state.

Calumet protests taxes, county tax appeal board lowers taxable value by more than $200 million

Once the protest was settled, the county issued a refund of $4.7 million to Calumet and milled a special levy to recoup $1.2 million of funds the school district had to pay back to Calumet since they accessed their portion of protested taxes.