Anadarko pays $52M in property taxes

Weld County received $52 million in 2011 property taxes Tuesday from Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the largest amount in such taxes ever paid to the county by the oil giant.

Anadarko presented a check for that amount during a presentation Tuesday at the company’s new regional office in Evans. The tax payment amounts to about 14 percent of the county’s total tax revenue, the county said.

“If you drive on a county road, send your child to public school, use a public recreation center and library or are comforted knowing you have the protection of a fire department should you need it, then you are realizing the benefits of the oil and gas industry in our county,” Commission Chairman Sean Conway said.

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More than 40 percent of the $52 million payment will fund school districts in the county. Fire protection districts will receive about $4.4 million.

Towns, Aims Community College, water and sanitation districts, and soil and special districts also will receive funding.

“This will be our largest tax payment made to Weld County, symbolizing a constructive relationship and stable tax regime coupled with the exceptional performance of our Wattenberg oil and natural gas field and expanding presence in the region,´ said Jim Kleckner, Anadarko vice president of Rockies Operations.

Energy industry tax payments also contribute to a stable mill levy in the county.

Since 2010, the county mill levy has remained at 16.8. The mill levy means lower property tax bills for county residents and businesses compared with neighboring counties, according to the county.

In Colorado, local governments tax oil and gas land holding at an assessed value of 87.5 percent, according to the Colorado Oil & Gas Association.