Grant County, REC agree to end 3-year dispute

EPHRATA - Grant County and REC Silicon reached a preliminary agreement concerning a three-year-long dispute about property taxes.

Grant County and REC Silicon released an announcement stating they reached an agreement to end the dispute involving roughly $15 million in property taxes.

Grant County Assessor Laure Grammer stated details about the agreement are still being finalized.

"We do have a tentative agreement but all the details have not yet been worked out," she stated. "I expect things to be complete this week."

Sharon Palmerton, head of community affairs for REC Silicon, stated the company and the county are in the process of "formally memorializing the settlement agreement and finalizing the necessary legal documents in cooperation with the county."

Issues between the company and the county started with the company's expansion in Moses Lake in 2009. The county assessed the new value of the property at $1.26 billion, more than twice REC's estimate of $507 million.

The company paid its $15 million property tax bill under protest, but missed the deadline to appeal it to the county's Board of Equalization, Assessor Laure Grammer explained. As a result, they filed a lawsuit in Grant County Superior Court challenging the assessment value.

The company continued to dispute the 2010 value of its property in 2011, believing the county assessed the value about $532 million above the $1 billion it estimated, according to county records. The company appealed the assessment to the county Board of Equalization.

REC Silicon challenged the 2011 assessment in 2012 as well, claiming the county's assessment was $734 million above the $1.01 billion the company claims the property is worth, according to county records.

When the value notice was sent to REC, Grammer requested the company appeal it directly to the state Board of Tax Appeals, or file it in superior court before the end of the year, she said. State law allowed REC to pay property taxes on the undisputed amount if a Board of Tax Appeals case or superior court case is filed.

Grammer requested the Department of Revenue (DOR) conduct the assessment for 2012, using a provision in state law allowing her to request the department assess any property valued at $25 million or more, she said.

The department wouldn't do the appraisal earlier because construction was continuing.

REC and Grant County began negotiating to resolve the issues starting in November. The settlement is expected to include dismissing the lawsuits and an appeal of REC's tax assessment, according to the joint statement.

"REC settled in part to avoid expensive litigation during a period of uncertainty in the solar markets," stated Tore Torvund, president of REC's polysilicon business.

Grammer stated ending the dispute was in the best interest of the county and the taxing districts affected.