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Let's start here: the West Virginia State Tax Department deserves credit for having two representatives appear Thursday before about 200 Ohio County residents who are both confused and concerned over just how the state now is valuing their mineral rights.
Now we'll go here: while the state's two representatives did a good job of explaining the new law that governs mineral rights valuations, they did not effectively communicate just how much residents should be paying this year, or how the new valuations initially sent out in December and January ending up being incorrect for many.
That's what folks are concerned about -- how their mineral rights appraisals increased three- to four-fold in a year.
The culprit of this change is House Bill 2581, passed in 2021, The legislation required the State Tax Department to come up with a new formula for valuing mineral rights. The department did that, but then sent out erroneous initial valuations to many residents.
"I don't believe there was any intention to send out any high letters," Frank Capehart, assistant director of the Tax Department's property tax division, said Thursday. "We are statutorily required to use what we have available at the time to send out the letters."
According to Tax Department officials, not all information had been input prior to the notices being sent out.
The key now is getting the incorrect valuations fixed prior to tax bills being issued this summer. That's going to be a tall order when you consider the tens of thousands of mineral rights owners just in our region alone.
Ohio County Assessor Tiffany Hoffman said her office would be available to help residents ensure their values are correct.
She said assessors throughout the state have expressed concern over the initial valuations.
"I, as an assessor, have to turn in these numbers from the state of West Virginia, and I have to sign off on them. Yes, I have to sign off on them. But personally, I, Tiffany Hoffman, am not sure about these numbers."
That's a stunning statement. State officials need to continue working to clean up this mess.