Claiming that Kinder Morgan pays only its minimum share of local taxes, Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 Superintendent Alex Carter said he envisioned company executives laughing all the way to the bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cKinder Morgan is laying a golden egg into the pipe, and it\u2019s shooting to Texas,\u201d Carter told school board members last week. \u201cThis county is not getting its share.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter said, for example, that if the school board built a new middle school, consolidated its elementary schools into a new building and upgraded the district\u2019s bus fleet with a $100 million bond, taxpayers would be on the hook for just $28 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause oil and gas pays 72 percent of our taxes,\u201d Carter said, pounding a boardroom table on Tuesday, Nov. 10.<\/p>\n
Kinder Morgan spokesperson Sara Hughes was unable to confirm Carter\u2019s revenue numbers because the company didn\u2019t possess the information.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we can tell you that Kinder Morgan pays taxes based upon the approved mill levy as listed on the tax bill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Carter said the county could ask oil and gas to pay more taxes. He said he became aware of the situation after a meeting last month with Rudy Andras, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in Denver. In 2012, Andras worked with Re-1 to secure grant funding to build the new high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe economist told me, \u2018You guys are missing your opportunity,\u2019\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
The Journal asked Hughes if Kinder Morgan should pay more in local taxes to benefit schools in the long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cKinder Morgan is committed to being a good neighbor and corporate citizen, and the company pays taxes in accordance with the law,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Carter made the tax assertions last week during an hourlong work session aimed at analyzing the district\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n
He said it may be time to pass another bond measure, since Kinder Morgan is expected to leave the county within 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill Kinder Morgan want to pay more taxes?\u201d he asked. \u201cYou bet, because this is an incredibly profitable county for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter said Kinder Morgan invested $100 million in the county and made almost $600 million here last year.<\/p>\n
Hughes said Kinder Morgan doesn\u2019t disclose county-level revenue.<\/p>\n
As for the company\u2019s local investment, 2014 financial documents reveal that Kinder Morgan invested $214 million to expand its central facilities near Yellow Jacket. This year, the company expected to complete a $344 million project in Cow Canyon and a $233 million Cortez-to-Texas pipeline.<\/p>\n
County tax revenues from oil and gas are dispersed only to the Re-1 district, Carter said, not to Mancos and Dolores.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something I think that we need to address as a new board,\u201d said Sherri Wright.<\/p>\n
Board member Jack Schuenemeyer agreed, saying, \u201cThe longer the board waits to do something \u2026 the more problems we will run into in getting this passed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the hard-core tax opponents, if it was spelled out like this, then I think people would understand,\u201d said board member Mike Tanner.<\/p>\n
Kinder Morgan is the largest energy infrastructure and the third-largest energy company in North America, with an enterprise value of more than $125 billion. It owns an interest in or operates about 80,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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