A county auditor who is challenging the tax valuation of a controversial gas pipeline in Northeast Ohio is now asking the Ohio Supreme Court to decide whether he has the right to make that challenge in the first place.
Craig Snodgrass, Lorain County鈥檚 auditor, has been since it was decided last summer. The state tax commissioner settled with NEXUS that it could pay at a rate of 58% of the pipeline鈥檚 initial value.
Public entities near the path of the pipeline, such as schools, were set to receive millions of dollars in tax revenue from NEXUS when it was first constructed. The 58% settlement means schools are losing out on essentially half of what they were originally promised, Snodgrass said.
鈥淚f they can receive these funds that, we believe, we are entitled to, they don鈥檛 have to go back to our homeowners, they don鈥檛 have to go back to the taxpayers and say 鈥楬ey, we need this money,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淭hey can do a lot of good things with that money that they won鈥檛 have to go and ask the taxpayers for.鈥�
Snodgrass appealed the decision but hit a roadblock when the state鈥檚 Board of Tax Appeals sided with NEXUS, which had argued Snodgrass did not have jurisdiction to appeal.
The Ohio Revised Code gives county auditors the 鈥渟tatutory right to appeal鈥� final tax valuations of pipelines, Snodgrass said. That鈥檚 why he鈥檚 decided to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking now about a valuation issue. We鈥檙e talking now about the checks and balances of government and the rights of county auditors,鈥� Snodgrass said.
NEXUS is standing by the final agreement.
"NEXUS continues to support the finality of the settlement agreement which provides additional revenue and certainty to local school districts. Given that Lorain County has filed an appeal, the formal litigation process will continue," NEXUS spokeswoman Kristen Henson said in a statement.
When the NEXUS pipeline was completed in 2018, the state tax commissioner set the value of the pipeline at $1.4 billion statewide. NEXUS appealed the state鈥檚 valuation multiple times over the course of several years, disputing how much the pipe was actually worth. During that time, it paid schools about 40% of the valuation.
The state ordered an appraisal and settled with NEXUS last year, revaluing the pipeline for $950 million.
The Oberlin City School District in Lorain County was supposed to get nearly $2 million per year, but under the June settlement, that was cut almost in half - down to $1.1 million, Snodgrass said. Oberlin and other districts had planned to use NEXUS funds to construct new school buildings.
In Medina County, the Cloverleaf Local School District was initially supposed to receive about $7.4 million in 2019 from NEXUS. That dropped to $4.3 million in the final valuation.
The projected revenue from NEXUS gave the district the push it needed to finally construct new school buildings, Superintendent Daryl Kubilus told Ideastream Public Media in a 2022 interview.
Cloverleaf is still able to use the reduced revenue to build a new joint middle and high school building but will likely have to go to the voters to ask for operating funds, he added.
鈥淟ittle did we know that they were seeking a little over one-third of the same numbers that they were broadcasting as a reason for us to be excited about them,鈥� Kubilus said.
The pipeline goes through 13 Ohio counties, including Summit, Medina and Stark.
Part of the reason Snodgrass is continuing on with his appeal is to protect the rights of all county auditors across the state, he added.
鈥淣o one person, no one office should have all total authority. That鈥檚 not what we鈥檙e founded on,鈥� Snodgrass said. 鈥淚t is founded on checks and balances and having a voice, and being able to ask questions and having transparency of government.鈥�