Assessor: Property’s value restored

Following a special meeting Monday morning, Osage County Assessor Gail Hedgcoth said the county Equalization Board set aside a recent decision to lower the officially recognized value of certain oil-and-gas property owned by a corporate entity called Northeast Shelf from more than $20 million to $3 million.

The Equalization Board’s decision May 31 to lower the value could have cost Osage County about $250,000 of annual tax revenue, much of which is distributed to public school districts.

Hedgcoth said the Equalization Board restored the value of the property, as recognized by the county for tax purposes, to the roughly $20 million level where it had previously been. She said the board had been provided with much more data relevant to the property value.