As in Richmond, refineries throughout the country dispute property tax assessments

As the County Assessor’s Appeals Board prepares to meet to decide on Chevron’s tax assessment appeal value for 2010 and 2011, Richmond Confidential searched for other some US cities where other oil refineries are also appealing their local property tax assessments or have appealed them over the past five years.  This map does not include all of the refineries that are currently disputing their local property taxes but instead highlights 17 of the major refineries who are currently disputing their property tax assessments. The map includes three Chevron disputes—two in California and one in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.  The map also includes companies such as ExxonMobil, British Petroleum and Valero.

The information displayed on this map was obtained by calling representatives of county governments throughout the country and by searching online legal records, news reports and databases to get information about refineries protesting their tax assessments.

On the map, refineries are ranked according to the number of barrels each refinery produces a day.  The rank was obtained from the U.S. Energy and Information Administration’s website.

In Richmond, Chevron recently lost its appeal to lower the company’s assessed property value for the years 2007-2009, arguing that it had been overtaxed and was due a refund worth up to $73 million.  In fact, the appeals board ruled that the assessor had undervalued the refinery and that the company will now owe more taxes.

Chevron and city officials are expected to meet on April 23 to discuss Chevron’s appeals for the years 2010 and 2011.