Justaguynamedmorph At first looking at this, I will agree with you that Wt "could" have gotten screwed on this. I don't have an opinion on the Union side of it. I know the unions didn't like WT having their own crane operators that didn't have State licenses and made them get at least one State "licensed" crane operator. The practical test was on a Union owned crane at their training center. I don't think that is a big issue of "freedom of religion". It was a state law regardless of religion of the state protecting workers in general.
I used to purchase for my company diesel fuel for off road use in construction equipment. Even before the dyes started in 1994, we just kept a log and filled out a form to substantiate where we were using the untaxed fuel, ie. in a Dozer moving dirt, farm tractor etc. Before 1994, if you had a permit to purchase non-taxable fuel, it was the same diesel non-colored fuel as taxable fuel and reporting was based on the honesty system.
Then after 1994, in the came the dyes and distrust. Green dye is used for on road diesel fuel and it shows it has been taxed. Red dyed fuel is purchased without the highway tax being paid and if caught with red dyed fuel in a highway truck the penalties are substantial, $10,000 per incident and loss of permit. We just had a spiral notebook that we recorded the gallons for the bulk fuel purchased for off road use and never had any questions from the fuel tax man. It was mostly based on the honesty system.
I suppose in this situation WT purchased the green "on road" taxed diesel fuel and were applying for a refund based that they had used it for off road purposes. Totally legitimate. The New York tax for on road fuel is .076 per dollar or 7.6%. Basically, WT has claimed they had spent close to a $1,000,000 on diesel fuel that should not have been taxed. Just saying, at $3.50 a gallon they are claiming they used 286,000 gallons of diesel fuel building Tuxedo, NY". I would be skeptical also as the tax court was and deny a refund. I don't see that as a realistic number. Especially since they used numerous outside "worldly" contractors who purchased their own fuel and charged WT on a lump sum price.
P.S. Note to the WatchTower Tax Lords. On your next project, have a truck dedicated for and only used for refueling off road machinery and purchase the fuel upfront for off-road-use. Oh, that truck is going to cost about $175,000. Shoot, WT, somebody has to pay the man, and your not big enough not to. BTW, Many companies that I have worked for just pay the fuel tax and pass it on to the customer because they don't want to get bogged down in paperwork. Oh, that's right, WT doesn't pay anything for their slave labor other than food and shelter.