A
2008-2013 Census of Oil and Gas Lessors in Huerfano County: How
the Numbers Inform Strategy
In
this census we used TheCountyRecorder.com website to obtain a list of
oil and gas leases in Huerfano County from January 1, 2008 until
December 2013. There are 1036 individuals, including a few legal
entities, who leased. They leased to seven companies: III Exp,
Hannon, Petroglyph, Presco, Spoon Valley, SWEPI, and Timberlake.
Of
those granting leases, 203 live, vote, and pay property taxes on
their mineral rights in Huerfano County. We referenced the Huerfano
County Registered Voter List, which consists of 4,911 individuals.
Surprisingly, this means that a mere 4.1% of voting county residents,
that is 203 individuals, are leasing their mineral rights.
We
also used the 2012 Property Tax Roll, which is obtainable on the
Huerfano.us County website.
We
learned that 419 leasing individuals live outside of Huerfano County
and pay property taxes here on their mineral rights. It appears that another 414 who
live outside of Huerfano County are not paying taxes and are not even
taxed by the county on their mineral rights. These untaxed 414
individuals do not appear on the registered voter list, so it is safe
to assume that they are not county residents.
From
looking at the property tax roll, we frequently see a $0.25 per
mineral acre tax. If a mineral rights owner has 40 acres, the tax
would be $10.00 a year. Taking the example of Petroglyph and III
EXP, which are both owned by Intermountain, they hold 65,000 mineral
acre leases. The county income from this leased acreage, if
comprehensively taxed, would amount to $16,250. Sadly, 259 of those
leasing to Petroglyph and III EXP are now going unrecognized and
untaxed by the county.
We
have to ask, how much regulation, oversight, and mitigation of the
65,000 mineral acres in this example can the county expect to achieve
on a budget of $16,250 per year?
How
the Numbers Inform Strategy
We
need to determine where the sympathies lie in the 94.9% of the voters
who do not lease. We need to assess the costs of of public safety
and health incurred by the many threats inherent on industrial gas
and oil development. A mere handful of county residents stand to
gain from oil and gas royalties. The rest of us will be left holding
the bag.
It is
encouraging to see the numbers in terms of the voting public. This
census also indicates that Huerfano County government is overwhelmed
and unprepared to deal with the complexity of oil and gas
development. Until such preparation, a moratorium on fracking would
be a reasonable goal.
