The total tax value of two new gas and oil pipelines will come close to the values of the local electric and phone utilities in Buchanan County.

One pipeline alone contributed about $425,000 to the St. Joseph School District last year, and a total of $732,983 to schools, fire districts and governments throughout the county.

That’s the ongoing counterpart to the one-time boost in hotel rooms, meals, gas and supplies that businesses welcome with open arms.

Construction should begin here this summer for TransCanada’s Keystone Oil Pipeline. It will follow the same route as the Rockies Express West natural gas pipeline, which was constructed in 2007.

Woody’s Grocery felt the boost two years ago, as the Rockies gas line extended near the store in Agency, Mo. The crews quickly learned that the handmade cheesy Woody Burgers can take a while to cook.

“It was definitely a steady increase in business, when you go from two people to staff your lunch to four,” said Tawnya Chambers, an owner of the store. “They were even starting to call in their lunch at 9 a.m.”

Woody’s will see an even bigger boost this time around. TransCanada plans to open its local construction “staging” area across from the store on State Route FF.

The pipelines are taxed as utilities. The state of Missouri calculates the total mileage and value, then assigns tax values in each county based on the mileage through each county, said Buchanan County Clerk Pat Conway.

The total taxable property value for Rockies Express was $10.8 million in 2008. For comparison, Aquila’s utility here was valued at $12 million.

The pipeline here takes an west-east route from near Contrary Creek at the Missouri River, following south of Agency to the east county line near U.S. Highway 169 South.

This year’s Keystone pipeline begins in Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, and comes south to Steele City, Neb. There it splits in two. Buchanan County is along the east leg, which carries the crude to a Conoco-Phillips refinery and a storage facility in Illinois.

The Rockies Express carries natural gas from Weld County, Colo., to Monroe County, Ohio.

Joe Blumberg can be reached at joeblumberg@npgco.com.