County, Silver Mountain agree on property values

KELLOGG — The lengthy legal battle between Silver Mountain Resort and Shoshone County/the city of Kellogg has finally wrapped up (for the most part) regarding the value of the resort.

County Prosecuting Attorney Keisha Oxendine explains that as a result of months of meeting between the two sides in 2020, it was agreed upon that the valuation of the combined resort properties in 2018 was $9 million, $9.2 million in 2019 and $9.4 million in 2020. The argued-over value of the properties directly correlates to tax dollars going to both the county and the city.

The saga all began when Silver Mountain owner, Tryg Fortun, argued in 2017 that the value of his newly acquired property should be based on the $5 million price that he paid for it. Contrary to this sale price though, the Shoshone County assessor found Silver Mountain Resort (and its associated properties) to be worth approximately $22 million.

These two very different figures put forth two very different possible tax rates for the resort to pay.

Fortun purchased Silver Mountain Resort in October 2016 from longtime owners, Jeld-Wen Holdings Inc. While Jeld-Wen owned the property, the company paid taxes on the county appraised value of approximately $22 million and never appealed the decision.

After the Shoshone County Board of Equalization decided to uphold Assessor Jerry White’s valuation, Fortun appealed to the state to make their own determination.

On May 1, 2018, the Idaho Board of Tax Appeals concluded that the disputed resort properties in total were worth $6,310,000 — far south of the county’s number.

Within 10 days of the state’s announcement, County representatives decided to appeal the $6,310,000 valuation and take the dispute to the District Courtroom, which concluded with another adverse ruling for the county.

The next step for the county was then to take the matter to Idaho appellate courts, but then COVID-19 threw a wrench into that plan.

While the fight over the 2017 valuations remained in limbo over the last four years (and still does today), Silver Mountain also filed appeals for the valuations of 2018 through 2020.

With the pandemic slowing the legal system to a snail's pace, the appellate court recommended that both parties should attempt to find a compromise — as it could be years before the matter would make it to trial.

It didn't happen overnight, but a deal was finally reached for almost everything in question.

"This compromise took into consideration the estimated cost to the county (and taxpayers) of hiring experts to testify again in the pending cases and hiring future experts to testify in future litigation," Oxendine explained. "For example, at the time of settlement efforts, the county had already expended over $300,000 in legal and expert fees for the 2017 valuation appeal. The county sought and obtained some outside financial assistance to aid in these costs, but it was not an expense that the county had available at its disposal moving forward."

The settlement sought to resolve the 2018, 2019 and 2020 valuation appeals and now that it has, the county now has a road map moving forward to obtain information on income and value, which is necessary to assess and value such a unique property in the future.

Oxendine added that the county still has costs associated with the 2017 appeal, which has not been resolved. 2017 will be decided once the Idaho appellate courts reach a decision on the county's appeal in that matter.

The properties initially involved in the valuations include the Ski Resort, Silver Rapids Water Park, the different parts of Galena Ridge Golf Course, Shoshone House Apartments, Morning Star Lodge, two condominium units in Morning Star Lodge, a commercial lot on Wildcat Way and some other vacant land.

The county’s stance since the beginning of this disagreement is that a decrease in tax revenue from Silver Mountain will negatively affect the services that Shoshone County, the city of Kellogg and the various districts (i.e., fire, water, sewer, etc.) provide to residents.

The stance of Silver Mountain and its owners is that the money they will save in taxes can go toward improving Silver Mountain and, in-turn, help the community.