Operating property is that property which is owned by a railroad or utility company and is actually devoted to the day-to-day operation of that railroad or utility. Some examples of operating property are power line rights-of-way and substations, railroad rights-of-way and yards, radio towers, etc. Operating property can be tracked by assigning the appropriate BPRUC codes for the utility company. Operating property shall be coded from assigned BPRUC codes ranging 08100 to 08700. Non-operating utility properties shall be coded from corresponding BPRUC codes assigned 10100 through 10700.

Non-operating property is that property which is owned by a utility or railroad but not used in the operation of the utility or railroad. Some examples of non-operating property are abandoned railroad and power line rights-of-way, and leased buildings or property.

The Supervisor of Assessments is responsible for the physical inspection and valuation of all non-operating land and improvements owned by public utilities and railroads.

Operating land and improvements are centrally valued using the unit approach by the Public Utilities Section at the central office and should not be valued locally by the Supervisor. A brief description of operating improvements should be recorded on each account.

Non-operating land and improvements should be valued as any other property. Caution will have to be exercised when valuing this property. The land configuration and location may render it, under certain conditions, of minimal market potential.

The public utilities section will monitor sales activity of existing utilities, and will notify the local assessment office of any transfer activity to ensure that each account has the correct operating or non-operating code (see procedure 045/020/030). It may be necessary for the local office to perform field reviews and verify the operating status of the property and to change BPRUC codes as needed.

The Supervisor, or their designee, should attempt to confirm a property's operating or non-operating status during the triennial field review. If it is believed that the operating status of a property is incorrect, the Public Utilities Section should be contacted. Local offices should change operating/non-operating codes only with the acknowledgement of the public utilities section.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

A. Land and improvements on property classified as operating are valued by the utility section, subject to PSC requirements, and should not be valued locally. Both land and improvements should have zero values in the respective value field. If there are buildings and land not associated with the railroad or utility business, then such property should be designated as non-operating property, and the land and buildings should be valued locally.

B. Transfer - When the utility company is the grantor (seller), the operating/non-operating code should be removed by the local office and the property should be inspected and valued. When a property transfers that has an operating BPRUC code it appears on the file maintenance Transfer Exception Report. This will help the local offices to identify operating properties that are transferring. When the utility company is the grantee (buyer), the local office should assign a non-operating code for that company. The utility company will verify the operating status with the next annual operating property return.

C. Change in operating/non-operating status - When a property changes from operating to non-operating, it is the Supervisor’s responsibility to value both the land and improvements. The same holds true on a transfer from a utility to a non-utility.

D. Enter the appropriate BPRUC code for the utility company. Operating property is identified by name in assigned BPRUC codes ranging 08100 to 08700. Non-operating utility properties will be coded from corresponding BPRUC codes assigned 10100 through 10700.

E. Operating property accounts, because they will have zero values, must be identified in the CAMA database system with a unique record status of 222. (Please refer to the record status flow chart for more information on processing data information changes regarding these properties.)

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