A lawyer for Sequoyah Fuels at Gore said she will appeal a recent decision in Sequoyah County District Court, Sallisaw, that the closed uranium processing plant should pay its ad valorem taxes.

Rebecca Fowler, Sequoyah Fuels attorney, said last week that District Judge Jeff Payton’s decision, filed in district court on Nov. 2, that Payton incorrectly figured the worth of the property and remaining equipment because of the contamination there. She said she plans to appeal his decision.

The battle between Sequoyah Fuels and the county began in 1995 when plant owners protested the assessed value of the property. Since then Sequoyah Fuels continues to pay its levied ad valorem taxes, but the money is put in an escrow account until the final outcome of the litigation. Most of the ad valorem taxes from Sequoyah Fuels would go to Gore Schools, which is suffering a severe budget crisis. School officials have already reduced the school week from five days to four — Tuesday through Friday — and on Dec. 10 the school board will consider dismissing four teachers to save money.

Payton, in his finding that Sequoyah Fuels should pay the taxes, writes: “…the fact that the contamination (at the plant) was a direct of the operation of the facility for it’s intended use, the Court finds that the depreciation schedule used by the County as provided by the Oklahoma Tax Commission Tables is an appropriate method to be used in the valuation of the property. The court has used the actual costs expended during those years to further depreciate the values given.

“The values to be used are as follows:

•$19,192,359 minus the cost of cleanup, figured to be $4,374 for the year 1995 (taking the $17,500,000 testified to…and divided by each of four years) for a total valuation of $14,818,359.

•Using the number for 1995 and the depreciation method used by County, the other years should be calculated accordingly — $11,909,109 for 1996; $10,209,851 for 1997; and $9,419,284 for 1998.

“It is therefore ordered that these figures should be utilized in determining the value of the person property for the purposes of ad valorem taxes for the years 1995-1998.”

Trica Yates, Sequoyah County treasurer, said Sequoyah Fuels has placed in the ad valorem escrow account has about $2.5 million.

Sequoyah Fuels officials have argued throughout the lawsuit that contamination of the plant and its surroundings lessen the assets’ values.

District 2 Commissioner Steve Carter said the judge’s decision would cut the amount owed to the county, and thus the school, by about 1 percent, or $200,000.

“We get paid for four years, and then nothing?” Carter queried.

Gore School Superintendent Keith Kincaid said, “This thing has lasted too long in the first place.”

Carter and Kincaid said they anticipated that, with the appeal, the case will continue to be argued in the court, and they foresee no immediate solution.

This year Gore School’s budget, due to cuts in state aid as well as the loss of ad valorem taxes, is short by between $150,000 an $200,000 Kincaid said.