PARKERSBURG - William Yoho told Wood County commissioners he purchased oil, gas and mineral rights in an 18-acre tract of land off Lee Creek in Tygart District back in 1990 but wasn't notified of the tax due and now the mineral rights are scheduled to be sold at the Nov. 8 public auction of delinquencies.

"We had a meeting with the assessor and tax office, and there was an understanding when we left the meeting there were a lot of mistakes that had been made and I asked for retribution because the tax bill was sent to the wrong name and address," Yoho said. "Now I'm informed the state will not allow the exoneration even though it's wrong. There is no legal way to correct it, and it's due to be sold."

"Mr. Yoho purchased the property in 1990, when the property owner died. She had reserved a life estate and the mineral rights. She died in December 2007. The will was probated in April 2008. The original property owner's will was probated, property was split amongst several heirs," said Assessor Rich Shaffer. "I asked the state if we could remove the fees. I was told the fees cannot be waived."

Yoho told the county officials he was not aware of the original landowner's death or of the problem with the taxes until earlier this month. Tax tickets for 2009 are for taxes due from 2008.

According to county records, the original landowner reserved a life estate and the mineral rights on one tract. The records did not show Yoho had purchased the mineral rights on one tract of the land. The original property owner held a life estate in the mineral rights, according to probate documents.

County Deputy Clerk Mark Rhodes noted Yoho would not have been notified of the property owner's death because he was not an heir to the estate.

The assessor's office then provided the last known name and address for the property. The land had been split up among numerous heirs after the original landowner's death, and the tax ticket ended up being sent to the wrong person.

Yoho asked the publication and other related late fees for the delinquent tax be waived. County records show the original bill for the OGM was $5.06, now it's $60.46, plus an additional $55 for publication and other fees. He also asked the county commission to intervene so the mineral rights would not be sold at auction and any errors would be corrected for future reference.

"The address we sent out the tax ticket to was incorrect. I feel we really need to look at this. He had no way of knowing he owed the tax," said Dennie Huggins, chief tax deputy for the sheriff's office.

"This is not a normal situation. There were several people who got the farm. It was all split up. We've been trying to get it straightened out," Yoho said.

"As far as the delinquency fees, we will need to confer with the prosecutor on the law. It seems fair and reasonable to me if it's legal for us to do that. But we have laws we have to live with. With regard to the other matters, we'll ask the assessor, tax office and clerk, who are all reasonable people, to trace this back and see how the transfer was handled, transfers can be very confusing. If there are errors they will see they are corrected. We will have you an answer to you before the sale," commission President Rick Modesitt assured Yoho.