1. EXEMPTIONS -

A. Equipment Used in Production of Crude Oil and Natural Gas:

Stingray Pressure Pumping, LLC v. Harris, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-2598. Reversing the BTA, the Court determined five categories of equipment used in blending water, chemicals, and sand to be pumped deep into the earth for the hydraulic fracking of oil and gas deposits qualified for exemption based upon a 2018 retroactive statutory change in the exemption that specifically enumerates categories of exempt property. The statute contains non-exhaustive lists of property deemed exempt and taxable. The Tax Commissioner had argued that the equipment was taxable because it was used in a preliminary stage prior to any injection of the mixture into a well. In determining whether the property was “primarily used” in an exempt manner, the Court applied old precedent that focuses on “primacy in utility or essentiality, in quality as well as quantity.” Ace Steel Bailing, Inc. v. Porterfield (1969), 19 Ohio St.2d 137.