 The state made a big mistake and now you may have to pay for it. A big oil company says they're owed millions and millions of dollars and it could be up to local counties to make it right. Enbridge has multiple petroleum pipelines passing through Minnesota cutting across Kitson, Marshall, Pennington, Red Lake, Polk and Clearwater counties. Here's the problem. Enbridge says after a change in the way the state taxes energy companies in 2012, they were overcharged millions of dollars. Scott Cook explains. It's hard not to notice Enbridge Energy has made its mark on Northwest Minnesota but soon these petroleum pipelines could represent something else. A huge debt owed to the corporation. Polk County commissioners discussed it this week ahead of a court case in October. We're trying to be ready for the worst case scenario. If Enbridge wins, Polk County will have to repay $1.8 million in tax refunds and they aren't the only ones. According to Enbridge, Marshall County would owe $1.4 million, a quarter of their budget. Red Lake and Kitson counties would each owe $3 million. For Kitson County, that's a third of their budget. Clearwater County would owe nearly $7 million more than their entire budget for 2017. An Enbridge spokesperson says they'll give the counties the time they need but that's not a lot of relief for leaders like Chuck Whiting. Enbridge is our largest taxpayer to suddenly come up with three years of tax refunds from 2012, 13 and 14, you know, is probably in 2018 is problematic. So now Polk County is doing some calculating and bracing for a bill they know will be hard to pay. Minnesota lawmakers are working on a plan to get local counties off the hook saying that the state is to blame but bill sponsors are not optimistic. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.