Property Tax Alert: Wyoming

November 2006

The Wyoming Department of Revenue was required to apply economic obsolescence to an electric utility company's construction work in progress (CWIP) as it did to all its other assets in determining the value of the company for property tax purposes. The Department relied on two different cost models to determine the value of the electric utility company for property tax purposes. For each model, the Department calculated a rate of economic obsolescence. The Department used those rates of economic obsolescence to adjust the value of the company assets pertinent to each model, but did not apply those rates to adjust the value of the company's CWIP. Therefore, the Department's treatment of CWIP was contrary to the Wyoming statutes, the Department's Rules and Regulations, or generally accepted appraisal standards.

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