Sweetwater County will receive more than $13.7 million in back taxes after nearly two years.
Sweetwater County Treasurer Robb Slaughter said Southland Royalty Company paid the back property taxes at the start of the month following a May court hearing between the company’s attorneys and attorneys representing the county. Slaughter said payments to various entities were sent this week.
Southland Royalty is an oil and gas company based in Fort Worth, Texas which owns a number of land parcels in the Red Desert. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and failed to pay taxes on its property after the filing. Slaughter said he wasn’t sure if the county would receive anything from the company after its attorneys initially claimed the taxes were not a priority as it paid back its creditors.
“It was difficult ... it took quite awhile,” Slaughter said.
Initially, he was told the county could only expect between seven and 10 cents on the dollar for what was owed. Slaughter said even the attorney the county hired to represent it in the bankruptcy procedure had given up hope the county would receive any payments, but he said both Deputy Sweetwater County Attorney John DeLeon and himself kept providing additional documents to prove their argument that the county should be paid in full.
Eventually, a letter from the company stating it would pay the taxes owed is what caused the Delaware-based bankruptcy court hearing the case to make the county one of the priorities as Southland Royalty settled its debts.
The company agreed to pay taxes owed for the second half of 2019, the full 2020 taxes and a portion of the 2021 taxes owed until Southland Royalty completes a sale of its Red Desert properties to Wamsutter E&P this year. Slaughter said the 2021 taxes were placed in escrow and not included as part of the amount paid to the county.
Laughter said the county views the taxes as a perpetual lien and require those taxes to be paid.
“Even if someone new takes over, those taxes are due,” he said.
Slaughter said back taxes are not always paid to Wyoming’s counties after a company like Southland Royalty files for bankrupts. He said Campbell County was unable to recoup back taxes in recent bankruptcies, resulting in the Wyoming Legislature re-examining the statutes regarding those taxes. For Sweetwater County, Slaughter said that hasn’t often been the case as it does receive payment during a bankruptcy proceedings.
The payment is a relief for Slaughter, who retires from his position July 1.
“I wanted to get that taken care of before I retire,” he said.
However, Slaughter is dealing with another bankruptcy that will require him to testify after he retires.
The county seeks $600,000 from Vanguard Operating, which had filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and again in 2019. Slaughter said that hearing would take place Aug. 29-30.
According to the Casper Star-Tribune, Vanguard Natural Resources had filed suit against Sweetwater and six other counties in 2018 in an attempt to recoup taxes the company argued were paid in error. Slaughter said the hearing is a part of that tax issue.
Breakdown of back taxes paid
County general fund: $1,813,686.48
County hospital:$120,971.16
Events complex: $222,524.76
County library: $243,526.74
County museum: $27,980.17
Southwest Counseling Service: $58,929.80
State school foundation: $2,487,619.10
Sweetwater school district 1: $5,180,890.90
Sweetwater school district 2: $1,649.01
Mandatory county wide school 6 mill levy: $1,243,809.61
School district 1 maintenance/rec levy: $207,235.66
School district 2 rec board levy: $65.97
Western Wyoming College optional 1 mill: $207,310.61
Western Wyoming College levy: $829,206.35
District 1 Region V BOCES: $41,460.29
District 1 Sweetwater BOCES: $103,650.79
WWCC BOCES: $68,616.79
School district 2 pool bond: $107.04
Town of Wamsutter: $619.77
Eden-Farson Cemetery District: $96
Eden-Farson Fire District: $140.33
Eden-Farson Improvement District: $406.11
Eden-Farson Solid Waste: $138.85
Sweetwater County Fire District 1: $1,698.74
Solid Waste District 1: $1,315.92
Solid Waste District 2: $588,644.58
County Weed and Pest: $128, 782.57
West Side Water and Sewer: $1,033.29
High Desert Rural Healthcare: $138,539.73
Eden-Farson Rural Health: $93.55
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