As the long-drawn lawsuits continue between Texas County and two corporations, county officials have moved forward with agreeing on who will represent the county in arbitration hearings on two different cases.
The first is a case the county has against Visual Lease Services (VLS), the software supplier that supplied the county with its Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) system.
This week, the county commissioners entered into executive session to speak with the district attorney, the county assessor and legal representation on the VLS suit and also on DCP. The commissioners moved to allow Campbell and legal representatives to move forward as representation for the county in arbitration with VLS.
In the DCP suit, the company has filed against several counties in Oklahoma to lower the value of pipeline. A portion of that pipeline is in Texas County. Campbell has asserted and maintained that the valuation of the DCP property was assessed on state formula numbers and is correct. While DCP maintains the tax protest suit, only a portion of property taxes are being paid to the county, with the remainder in contention remaining in an escrow account until the suit is settled. A majority of this ad valorem goes to schools, but remains tied up in court.
The commissioners moved to allow Campbell and legal firm Tisdale & O’Hara to represent the county’s interests in a conference hearing to be held in Cimarron County before Judge Ronald Kincannon.
“I think we’ve got that moving in the right direction,” Boring said. “The battle is still a long way down the road.”