updated on 12-9
A timeline of my wind property tax research might be useful to blog visitors.
My research into the MEC wind property tax issue began a few years ago, when I saw a per turbine valuation listed in a local newspaper. I thought the valuations looked too low, as I had some experience with wind project development. When I asked to see MEC's filings in Pocahontas county, I was told they weren't available to the public. Yes, I was denied access to public records. After a lawyer drafted a letter to the Pocahontas county assessor office, The assessor provided the paperwork I had requested. I had the same experience in Calhoun county. A copy of the letter I sent to Pocahontas county previously secured MEC filings in Calhoun as well. I'm not the only taxpayer denied access to these files, but persistence pays off I guess. Did MEC request these records remain confidential?
It soon became apparent that local government had little interest in verifying that the utilities filings were accurate. Daryl Beall was the elected senator for my district at the time. He was kind enough to schedule a meeting with the state property tax department at the Department of of revenue when I informed him about this. He was unable to attend, so he sent a senate staffer (Jace Micheals) with me. The state property tax director had little interest in this issue, and I was directed to the local property tax review board to resolve it. I did file a petition in Calhoun county , which was quickly denied, even though the Calhoun county assessor actually supplied information that supported my suspicion that MidAmericans wind property taxes were too low. It seemed the outcome was predetermined here.
So, from the beginning I got little cooperation from state or local government. I was able to eventually piece together enough information to become convinced that there was a problem here. Much of that information has been uploaded to the blog. including more details on items above. I have more to sort through, and I'm sure there will be more info to come. I worry that this issue is much larger than the discrepancies I've found so far, which is why I called for a thorough audit of MidAmerican's wind property and replacement tax filings in the previous post. The issue looks huge. It's been going on for years. It will take state and local officials lots of time and effort, and no doubt will anger one of the county's largest utilities, which, as this post mentions, can exert a lot of influence in the state. No doubt these are some of the reasons it has been so hard to get public officials interested. Newspapers are probably risking potential advertising income here as well.
So I want to list the public employees and elected officials that have received this information so far. The list will likely be added to as I go back through several years of correspondence on this issue.
The assessors from Calhoun and Pocahontas counties. A Webster county assessor told me the state DOR had warned her against contesting wind property valuations. The following Webster county assessor who replaced her said his hands were tied, and to contact the state DOR and department of management.Supervisors from Webster county and Calhoun county were informed and did not act on the issue.
I fared no better at the state level. DOR sent me back to the local property tax review boards, stating this was a local government issue, so, state and local government are contradicting each other. I finally sent DOR much of the information here on the blog, and received no response. I then contacted the department of management , who in turn contacted DOR. This resulted in an angry unscheduled phone call from DOR property tax department, documented here on the blog. Department of management ceased responding to to me soon after.
Another groups inquiry to the state AG office about MEC's turbine repower project was referred to the DOR, not a good sign considering the experience I had there.
On the Democrat side, former state senator Daryl Beall was very helpful. The information was also sent to Micheal Gronstal's office (Eric Bakker), Senators Joe Bolkcom , and Rob Hogg. who were not interested to date. The state treasurer referred my information to the state auditor ( Republican-who has stated they are looking into this). The state AG office (elected Democrat) referred the turbine repower part to the DOR. Since these discrepancies have been going on for years, the heads of the departments above would have Democrat appointees during part of the time periods I have identified.
They didn't find these problems, or didn't act on them if they did.
an email example sent to Senate Dems, Never did hear back from Eric:
The heads of the state departments above are now staffed by Republican appointees who currently have shown little interest and one even displayed what I would consider strong push back on this issue. The exception being the state auditors office (elected Republican) who said they would review it.
I'm not surprised when someone ignores this, maybe thinking it looks like a lot of work. But I've experienced a lot of bipartisan resistance, along with some genuine push back while trying to sort this out. Add in some off the record comments folks have mentioned, and I'm confident in the need for a large audit.
My current state senator and representative are Republican and I recently met with Senator Kraayenbrink about this. I'm hopeful for their help.
Area newspapers - the Pocahontas Record Democrat and the Storm Lake Times have shown little interest. Lee Rood from the Des Moines register did not respond to information sent to her.
One elected official asked if MidAmerican would ask for a rate increase if it was found the the utility owes more taxes. I suppose it's possible, MEC is a rate regulated utility who gets a guaranteed rate of return . However, if I was a regulator, I'd ask why the utility wasn't reporting taxes accurately in the first place. I'd vote to make the MEC board of directors to cover any back taxes. Fully disclosed tax liability would be crucial for regulators to properly do their job. The last IUB regulator who was critical of MEC was replaced though.
An elected official even revealed during a conversation that he was "told not to look into this" (wish I had a written record of that!) . If he disputes that, he is welcome to roll up his sleeves and assist. And yes, I've endured the jokes about getting audited, or that I'll get beat up from people. Considering that I had one of my letters opened by MidAmerican a few years back .....well .... I always hope for the best with people, though I've got to say this issue has been disappointing at times.
And also , anyone listed here is welcome to provide a statement if they disagree with what I've written. Or, they could simply prove me wrong and help sort this out. I'm just a farmer, but I did discover this issue, as opposed to several people above who have the responsibility to make sure things like this don't occur. Anyone of them are welcome to contact me. It would be nice if someone would explain why all these financial discrepancies are happening. This spare time research and reporting project continues....
John Stewart
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