The gas and coal industry is doing great things for property values in Marshall County.
According to Marshall County Assessor Chris Kessler, the assessed values of real and personal property in the county has increased by an extraordinary $577.2 million.
This total excludes the public utility values which is provided by the State Tax Department. Once those values are added, the total taxable assessed value of all property in Marshall Count is anticipated to be around $2.7 billion. This is a $917 million jump over the last two years.
Kessler adds that if tax-exempt property is added, the total assessed value in the county would be slightly less than $3 billion, doubling the values seen in 2007.
The significant jump in property values is being attributed to growth in the natural gas industry in the county related to the Marcellus Shale, and the status of the coal, chemical, and power industries in the county.
Assessor Kessler believes the increased assessed values and potential property tax revenue is a result of several factors.
One of the factors has to deal with what Kessler calls the processing and fractionation facilities which separate the wet gas products such as ethane, propane and butane from the drier methane product.
These facilities include those built by Williams Partners, Markwest Liberty Midstream and Dominion Resources.
Kessler also states that new wells that are being constructed as of the July 1 assessment date each year results in increased property tax revenue since the drilling rigs and equipment are assessed to the contractors doing such work.
The pipeline network necessary to transport the gas from the wells to processing and fractionation facilities continues to be put in place and is being assessed is another possible factor for the increase in values.
And Kessler believes the gas industry will continue to grow as several of the processing and fractionation plants in the county continue to expand, including the Dominion Resources Plant which has not reached completion yet.
And as the plants continue to expand, so will the pipeline network needed to connect the wells to the facilities for processing of the gas.
Kessler plans to present the numbers to the County Commission sitting at it’s initial meeting as the Board of Review and Equalization Tuesday
He hopes the tremendous increase will convince the board to reduce its levy rate so county residents can fully benefit from the increased values.