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Ext. PublicationFrom Wellhead to Tax Roll — Property Tax Insights for Energy Companies: NAPE 2026 | Podcast
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In this episode of Weaver: Beyond the Numbers, Jon Roberts sits down with Stephen Arredondo at NAPE 2026 to discuss state and property tax considerations for oil and gas companies. They walk through how property tax compliance and appeals work, highlight common risks companies face and explain why proactive planning is critical in multistate environments. The conversation also explores how valuation, exemptions and filing deadlines can affect tax outcomes throughout the year.
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Detailed Description of From Wellhead to Tax Roll — Property Tax Insights for Energy Companies: NAPE 2026
00:00:00
Jon: Jon Roberts here at NAPE 2026. I’m joined by Stephen Arredondo with our SALT group.
00:00:05
Stephen: Good morning.
00:00:05
Jon: It’s a busy morning. Appreciate you guys joining us. Just wanted to check in and talk about some property tax stuff this morning.
00:00:12
Stephen: Well, you know, it’s an exciting day. It’s the first day. It’s early in the morning. I can see the glazed eyes in the audience for sure.
But, yeah, property tax — that’s why we’re here, right?
00:00:22
Jon: Fantastic.
00:00:23
Stephen: Think about all the things that we could do for companies that are here bringing out their products. When we think about upstream, midstream, downstream — all the streams.
We’re there for our clients, and we’re able to help them either through compliance or appeal needs throughout the nation.
00:00:40
Jon: It’s not just your house property tax rendition. You can protest yourself.
It’s more in-depth than that, right?
00:00:45
Stephen: Yeah. You know, when I’m on a plane, I don’t ever tell them what I do.
The first thing you say is, I’m a consultant. What kind? I’m property tax. Hey, I have a house. Can you do this appeal?
00:00:55
Jon: Sure.
00:00:56
Stephen: We do that for our clients as an ancillary service.
00:01:00
Stephen: But we’re really focused on some of the high-value or more complex situations and strategies for these companies to execute. Think about some of the projects we’ve been working on.
It’s been unique filings, or special filings, or being able to turn around something quickly. It’s being able to kind of help them through that process.
00:01:20
Stephen: And, you know, people are good at what they do. And what they do is oil and gas, right? And what we do is tax.
00:01:27
Jon: Yep.
00:01:28
Stephen: And so, bringing those two services together really creates synergies in what we try to do for our clients.
00:01:33
Jon: How does the process usually work?
I mean, right now, like, I’ve got property. How does it work from step one?
00:01:40
Jon: I’ve got property. I’ve got a rendition due. What’s the next step?
00:01:43
Stephen: I think the first thing is ask for help. You know, find that trusted provider.
Find that person that’s going to get you the advice you need so that you can accurately do it.
00:01:53
Stephen: If you don’t, there’s penalties. There’s interest. Especially with non-op companies, you can lose your property because you’re not paying bills because somebody didn’t do their job to make sure that it was accurately tracked when the sale took place.
00:02:08
Stephen: And then if you have certain types of equipment, it could be exempt, could be taxable. You don’t want to overstate that.
Property tax is the number one unbudgeted expense on the income statement. And it’s because there could be so much variety in inventories, production or whatever that variable is.
00:02:29
Stephen: And so, when you’re budgeting, you’re going along, and then all of a sudden, you have to make a huge adjustment in October. Nobody’s a big fan of that, are they?
00:02:37
Jon: No one likes surprises when it comes to income taxes or property taxes, I’m pretty sure.
00:02:41
Stephen: Right.
00:02:42
Jon: So how does the process usually work, like, start to finish? They call you, “Hey, we’ve got property. I need help.” Then what?
00:02:47
Stephen: We kind of get a comprehensive list of what they’re doing.
And then we come in, and we analyze all their information, all their data, provide a strategic plan on how they’re going to file and stay in compliance, advise them on how we would appeal to help minimize that tax, minimize those values.
00:03:04
Stephen: Property tax is a hot button, right? The governor of Texas says we want to abolish property taxes, but yet that was supplying $28 billion to $30 billion in surpluses over the last two fiscal years.
I really think we have to focus on what is the main point, which is to bring down values to help minimize it and make sure that people aren’t paying more than they should be.
00:03:28
Jon: Yep.
00:03:29
Stephen: That process from soup to nuts kind of starts in the first quarter with compliance and the middle, you know, second, third quarter of appeals and settling those values and the fourth quarter of just reporting and making sure taxes get paid.
And then like Groundhog Day, it just comes right back around on January 1.
00:03:46
Jon: That’s how it works in federal tax too. So you’re busy — it’s not just Q1, I get a report in January or a form I’ve got to file by March, and then we’re done from April through December.
It’s a year-round, round-the-clock type deal.
00:03:57
Stephen: Yeah. And when you start working in multistate environments, everybody has different deadlines or different objectives.
Texas may be really busy in May. Florida in the fall, California in, you know, the real fall in November.
00:04:12
Stephen: It’s turned into when you run a national practice, you’re going to be year-round. And it’s something that provides a lot of comfort because people don’t think about property taxes. So, advisers like us really help guide them through that process so that they’re not stepping in a mistake.
00:04:29
Jon: Gotcha. And so our practice is not Oklahoma, Louisiana, or New Mexico. We cover the oil and gas states, for sure.
00:04:36
Stephen: Yeah.
00:04:37
Jon:
00:04:40
Stephen: That’s right.
00:04:42
Jon: That’s awesome. All right, man. Well, appreciate you swinging by.
00:04:44
Stephen: Yeah.
00:04:45
Jon: More to come certainly from NAPE. Thank you.
00:04:47
Stephen: Always a pleasure. Thanks.
00:04:48
Jon: All right. See you, buddy.
