County valuation drops for 2017

Hot Springs County Assessor Shelley Deromedi released the final county valuation numbers on June 23 for 2017, and at best, the numbers are bleak.

The current locally assessed valuation for homes and land within the county is $50,297,835, up 1.3 percent from 2016.

State assessed utilities for Hot Springs County are up 2.79 percent from last year at $6,847,812.

Unfortunately, that is the sum total of the good news.

The smallest drop in valuation is seen with railroads, dropping just 4.03 percent from 2016 to $3,947,918.

Hard minerals, like construction materials, sand, gravel and industrial materials fell 30 percent. Final valuation came in at $1,785,752.

The two items most residents of the county are interested in are oil production numbers and gas production.

Oil production is down 23 percent for the year with a valuation of $58,639,432.

Natural gas production is down a full 50 percent from 2016, amounting to $109,630.

The final 2017 valuation for Hot Springs County is down 12.74 percent at $121,628,379.

Speaking of oil and natural gas production, nationwide, May’s numbers show 758 active oil rigs in the U.S. and 183 natural gas rigs.

In Wyoming there are just 10 active oil rigs and nine gas rigs currently in production.

At the height of the last oil boom in 1981, there were 4,530 active oil rigs pumping in the U.S. It all busted with only 404 rigs in service across the country in May of 2016.

As of June 26, reports are crude oil prices per barrel in Wyoming are $43 while nationwide, the price is 10 cents a barrel cheaper at $42.90.

For that same date, natural gas prices in the U.S. are $2.88 MBtu, while Wyoming is showing just over $2.50 MBtu.

However, there is a possible bright spot on the horizon.

Deromedi received the estimate for the first quarter oil production in Hot Springs County in 2017, the numbers she uses to begin planning for the 2018 valuation.

Oil value was up 34 percent for the first quarter and natural gas values were up 14 percent compared to the first quarter of 2016.