Court Opinion

ID: 9530013
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:56:21.516889+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:58.660389
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice,
dissenting, with whom GOLDEN, Justice, joins.
I am persuaded that the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, Decision and Order of the State Board of Equalization should be reversed, and I dissent from the resolution of this case according to the majority opinion. The parties both contend that the statutory scheme is clear and unambiguous, but, in the face of those arguments, the majority opinion concludes that Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-5-101(g) (Michie 1997) is ambiguous. The finding of ambiguity by the majority stretches both the doctrine of ambiguity and the language of the statute far beyond the tensile strength of either.
The only language of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-2-201(b) (Michie 1997), which appears to possibly require a report from Petroleum, Inc. is: *1242(Emphasis added.) No one appears to question that this is the report alluded to in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-5-101(g), where it is provided in pertinent part:
*1241(b) Annually, on or before the dates hereafter indicated, any person whose property is subject to subsection (a) of this section shall sign under oath and submit a statement listing the information relative to the property and affairs of the company as the department may require to assess the property:
(i) For mines and mining claims, the same date as prescribed by W.S. 39-6-304(a) for December production!1]
*1242(g) If any person fails to file the report required by W.S. 39 — 2—201(b)(i) by the due date or any extension thereof, the department may impose a penalty equal to a total of one percent (1%) of the taxable value of the production from the well, mine or mining claim but not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each calendar month or portion thereof that the report or information is late.
(Emphasis added.)
This statute clearly and unequivocally sets forth a limitation of $5,000 per month for each calendar month that the report or information is late. Only one report is required, and that report could encompass as many producing wells as the person required to file the report owns or operates. The State Board of Equalization obviously failed to consider any limitation contained in the statute, instead stating in its Conclusions of Law:
14. Petitioner’s interpretation of Wyo. Stat. § 39-5-101(g) suggesting a maximum penalty of only $5,000.00 per month, may be assessed against any one company for failure to file reports or required information, does not comport with the clear and unambiguous language of the statute. The statute clearly provides for “a penalty equal to one percent (1%) of the taxable value of the production from the well...” In this matter, several wells were assessed.
(Emphasis in original.) The State Board of Equalization wrote out of the statute a clearly expressed limitation, and the majority of this Court is following lockstep in the path of the State Board of Equalization.
Perhaps the fallacy in the reasoning of the majority is best illustrated in its penultimate paragraph. The majority assumes that the penalty relates to each separate well, but the statute does not precisely so state, nor does the statute require the filing of a separate report for each well. The State Board of Equalization alludes to reports, but any requirement of more than one report seems to clearly exceed the statutory mandate. The majority opinion justifies its interpretation of the statute by noting that:
If the $5,000 limitation did not apply to each well, a person who had not reported on a single well and a person who had not reported on several wells would have been subject to the same penalty. If that were true, the amount of the penalty would not have corresponded to the value of the mineral production. That obviously was not what the legislature intended when it enacted the penalty provision.
Remember that the statutory language provides “a penalty equal to a total of one percent (1%) of the taxable value of the production from the well, mine or mining claim but not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each calendar month or portion thereof that the report or information is late.” Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-5-101(g). In its order, the State Board of Equalization accounted for twenty-two wells. If each well is to be considered separately, the maximum monthly penalty for Petroleum, Inc. would be $110,000. Under the majority interpretation, the person who owned the largest coal mine in the State of Wyoming and failed to file the report would pay a maximum penalty of $5,000 per month for each month that the report was late. That penalty would not in any way correspond to the value of the mineral production. By contrast, the owner of several, say five, gravel pits would have to pay a maximum penalty of $25,000 per month for each month that the report was late. Even though that penalty would assume a production from the gravel pits of more than $2,500,000, that might be far less than the value of the production from a single coal mine. This simple example illustrates not only a disparity between mineral producers although described in the same statute, but also a disparity within mineral producers in the same class. Such a result is a far cry from the equality and uniformity demanded by Wyo. Const, art. 15, § 11(d).
*1243Other categories of taxpayers are identified in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-2-201, and they also are required to file “a statement listing the information relative to the property and affairs of the company as the department may require to assess the property * * ⅜.” In our endeavor to disceta the intent of the legislature with respect to penalties, it is useful to consider how these other categories of taxpayers are treated. Rail car companies, pipeline companies, electric utilities, telephone and telegraph companies, other public utilities and railroad companies are subject to a penalty for failing to file the required statement of not more than $500.00 plus not more than $100.00 for each day’s failure to file the statement, a maximum of $3,600.00 for the first month, and not more than $3,100 per month thereafter. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-5-101(e). No good reason appears for assuming that the legislature intended to impose the significantly higher sanction on mineral producers that the majority opinion approves.
I am satisfied that this statutory scheme clearly and unambiguously provides for a maximum penalty of $5,000 per month for failure to file a report, and the State Board of Equalization committed an error of law in construing the statute otherwise. I would reverse the State Board of Equalization with instruction to enter an order consistent with the correct construction of the statute which would provide a maximum penalty of $35,000.

. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 39-6-304(a) (Michie 1997) provided, in pertinent part: "The monthly tax reports and payments are due on or before the twenty-fifth day of the second month following *1242the month of production.” Because February 25, 1995 was a Saturday, the report from Petroleum, Inc. was due on February 27, 1995.