PINEDALE – The Lovatt Room was silent for several minutes. Humming fans and flipping pages echoed throughout the Pinedale Library’s southern meeting room.

All five members of the Sublette County Board of Commissioners thumbed through the pages of oil and gas producers seeking exemptions from monthly ad valorem payments. There were nine of them. The weight of the decision followed along with each company’s name. As did the importance of the decision – schools, rec centers, libraries – all with funding hanging in the balance.

The companies that applied were: Jonah Energy, Exxon Mobil, Huntington Energy LLC, XTO Energy, Mustang Resources LLC, Pride Energy Company, ConocoPhillips Co., Richardson Operating Co. and Breitburn Operating, LP.

It was nearly 10 minutes of ambiance before commission chair Joel Bousman asked what to do next.

The board voted to approve exemption agreements pending final agreements by a unanimous count, eventually. The commissioners will vote on the matter once again, once and for all, at the next board meeting.

“We’re plowing unplowed ground,” Bousman said after the vote.

Before the vote, county treasurer Emily Paravicini and deputy county attorney Clayton Melinkovich explained the final draft once more for the commissioners. The exemption would grant oil and gas producers exempt from making monthly tax payments as laid out by Senate File 60 until 2024. Companies could then apply for an extension if they were in good standing. Any bankruptcy or rebranding during that agreement would void the exemptions. Any purchased or newly acquired assets, would be subject to monthly payments, they said. And, for an example, if Melinkovich (producer A) sold his assets to Paravicini (producer B) while having claimed an exemption, then Melinkovich (producer A) would be responsible to pay all of those back taxes at the time of the deal. Of course, that could include some sort of deal between producers on splitting the taxes due, as long as the county gets its tax money.

Paravicini said the Department of Revenue is still trying to figure out how to make the payment schedule under Senate File 60 work. The only way for the county to circumvent the Department of Revenue in terms of payment would be to grant exemptions.

Melinkovich stated during discussion that other counties have asked to see the exemption forms once they’re drafted, because other counties are starting to see issues with Senate File 60. Paravicini said she’s been contacted by Natrona, Park, Lincoln, Carbon counties who have all gotten similar exemption requests and want to duplicate Sublette County’s formula.

These exemptions would allow producers to pay twice a year, May and November. It’s a blanket exemption and all companies will be held to the same standards throughout, which comforted commissioner Tom Noble, who worried there were different conditions with each producer’s exemption.

Paul Ulrich, vice president of governmental affairs for Jonah Energy, joined the discussion as the board’s recurring guest on the topic. He said there should be room for improvement on cutting down on NOVCs (notice of valuation changes) and discussions about making the counties priority lien recipients have increased.

In previous discussions, Ulrich called Senate File 60 a disaster. Bousman reiterated his main concern with the legislature’s fix of the issue this spring. (It was also brought up that, because the legislature will not convene this summer, waiting for a legislative fix to the issue would be too late for Sublette County.)

“If the legislature will take a hard look at what our concerns have been, that are behind this whole thing, priority lien status and NOVCs, those are things we’re having problems with,” Bousman said. “As long as we get our taxes paid, we get them paid. The problem has been different than that. They’ve got the wrong solution for the problem.”

Paravicini then handed the applications for exemptions that each applicant submitted, with a copy of last year’s tax bill for each applicant. Some of the applicants on the sheet showed $0 due, which meant that producer’s tax bill was paid. She said there were no delinquent bills at that time. She said the reason for the late notice was because some companies sent requests this morning to meet the deadline.

That left the commissioners to scroll through the numbers in silence as Paravicini and Melinkovich were ready to answer questions.

There were no more questions among commissioners, the public or those present. Noble brought forth a motion to adopt the exemption pending final agreements, and commissioner Sam White seconded. Commissioners Doug Vickrey and Dave Stephens didn’t vote upon the initial tally.

Stephens gave a delayed “aye” vote. Vickrey also clarified he’d vote in favor despite some reservations.