Oct 28, 2014 1 min read

MarkWest Liberty Midstream and Resources, which operates a natural gas processing plant in Chartiers Township, is appealing its property tax assessment to Washington County Court.

The three-man Washington County Board of Assessment Appeals earlier this month declined to lower the assessment of $212,225 for MarkWest’s land and $217,142 for its building.

Effective Jan. 1, the board pegged the market value of MarkWest’s property at $1,717,468.

MarkWest’s attorney, in a three-page petition, claims the assessment is excessive and unjust, lacks uniformity, is discriminatory and unconstitutional, and is based on an improper method or formula.

The court filing also alleges the base year assessment is incorrect, and the state-instituted formula was not properly applied to the faclity’s fair market value. The county bases its assessments on 1981 values, because that is the last time a reassessment was done. The county is now in the middle of another reassessment.

MarkWest, which is based in Denver, Colo., is requesting a hearing, not yet scheduled, to determine the matter on appeal and a decreased assessment that is “fair and proper.”