RBC — ExxonMobil isn’t alone in challenging Rio Blanco County’s application of the use tax.
At a meeting last month, County Attorney Kent Borchard told commissioners the Williams Companies had also appealed its use tax.
“Everyone that is objecting is objecting for the same reasons as ExxonMobil,” Borchard said last week. “They are trying to ride on ExxonMobil’s coattails.”
For now, use tax appeals are on hold. Commissioners granted a stay of appeal in the Williams case, pending the outcome of the ExxonMobil dispute.
“The other objections are put on hold until the ExxonMobil case is resolved,” Borchard said. “We won’t have any more hearings or appeals until we get a final decision.”
Like other county officials, Borchard was encouraged to find out the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to accept the county’s appeal in the ExxonMobil case.
“As an attorney, I never want to speculate on what judges are thinking, but the fact they took it, and there were 27 other cases the same day that were denied and they accepted our case, this is good news for us,” Borchard said.