Does anyone else with royalty interests in Ward and other counties notice that the Ward Co. “Owner’s Proposed Tax Estimate” is much higher than other counties? Also, the valuations for each well, all on the same section (Block 34, Sec. 63), are inconsistent. Any insight is appreciated - thank you.
Susan, how did you find the proposed tax estimate? I have not seen or found any proposed 2020 values yet for Ward County.
My 2020 estimates are all slightly lower than last years. However the total of all parcels is higher than I paid in tax last year.
I think each well is going to be different since every well performs differently. In your section, the Catman 6263C and D look very similar, and you’d think they would be appraised pretty similarly. But, over the last year, the C has produced a bit more. Maybe it is appraised a little higher? On the other hand, the Catman 6263B looks to be drilled from the same surface location as the C, but is a shorter well, so a smaller percentage of it is within your Section, so you’d think it would be appraised quite a bit lower. I think there are a lot of factors that go into the appraisal, but there is a lot of mystery to it.
As for the tax rates, Ward is a little high, but I think they’re more or less in line with other counties. My question has always been “What on earth do the counties do with all this money?”. Between taxes and recording fees, it is mind boggling that they can’t build some decent roads out there…
Ward Co. valuations don’t correspond with production. Catman A produced less than 20% more than C yet is valued at more than twice the “last year’s taxable”. And the 2020 Proposed Taxable has barely depreciated with Catman A while Catman C is nearly halved. Looking at my other county appraisals “Taxing Units” I see that Ward is 2.16%, Reagan is 1.49959% and Loving is 1.79%. That explains some of the high taxes so I guess my gripe is with the valuations.
The notice of appraised value gives you a link to the appraisal company website and an Id number to be emailed the appraisal report for each well or group of wells being reported under a single RRC oil lease number. There is only a single gas well for each RRC gas lease number. You may find that there is a difference in the estimated economic life of the wells, such as 8 years vs 15 years, and that will affect the valuation. There can be a significant difference in the decline curves as some wells have sharper monthly production drops. Reduction of the economic life is done by the operator and that will be applied to the royalty owner. This will give your more insight into the differences between the well appraisals.
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