Opinion ID: 2622768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Existence of Statute of Limitations on Collection of Ad Valorem Taxes

Text: [ถ 37] BP contends that the district court and the SBOE erred in adopting the position that there was no statute of limitations which prohibited the collection of ad valorem personal property taxes. This proposition is premised upon Wyo. Const., art. 3, ง 40 [18] and Union Pacific Resources Company v. State, 839 P.2d 356 (Wyo.1992), wherein we addressed statute of limitations concerns at some length. We conclude that BP misconstrues the position of the DOR, the conclusions of the district court, and misrepresents the applicability of various statutes cited in detail above. [ถ 38] As the SBOE found in its order, Wyoming's ad valorem tax system is a self-reporting system, something of a magnanimous social contract designed to make the tax collector as unobtrusive as possible. By its very nature, it requires mineral producers to fully and accurately report mineral production in order that the system can function. If reporting is not accurate, and especially where reporting of production is not fully accurate by design, then that contract is broken. Without accurate reports, an accurate assessment cannot be ascertained and without an accurate assessment, an accurate tax cannot be imposed and collected. The various statutes of limitations are designed to further flesh out the self-reporting system, and they bring the tax assessment and tax collection process to a state of repose when the conditions for their application are met. However, where the self-reporting system has broken down and the process is tainted from its point of origin, statutes of limitations simply cannot, as a general rule, be called into play. [ถ 39] In short, we cannot find in BP's arguments the thread of a rationale that requires reversal of the district court or the SBOE.