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County appraiser reports 2026 assessed values: small net rise, oil valuations fall after price drop
Summary
Eugene Rope reported assessed valuations for tax year 2026: a roughly 0.1% net increase in assessed valuation driven by real-estate gains (3.2%) offset by a significant oil-valuation decline tied to a ~23% drop in the January price-per-barrel; he said House Bill 2440 (effective July 1) will let appraisers exempt low-production wells going forward.
Eugene Rope, the county appraiser, gave a detailed briefing on assessed valuations for tax year 2026 and explained drivers behind year-over-year changes across real estate, oil and personal property.
Rope said appraised real-estate values rose about 3.2% for the county, producing an assessed-value change of roughly $14 million, while oil valuations declined sharply because the Property Valuation Division set a lower January per-barrel price (Rope cited a roughly 23% drop compared with the prior year). He said personal-property valuations fell as a result of a state change that exempted items such as boats, golf carts and UTVs.
Rope also described a pending administrative change: he said the legislature passed "house bill 24 40" that becomes effective July 1 and will give county appraisers authority to exempt low-production wells without the prior application-and-Board-of-Tax-Appeals delay. He told commissioners there were currently 39 exemptions pending at the Board of Tax Appeals representing roughly $3.6M in appraised value and that an additional 264 leases could qualify under the new exemption rules, potentially affecting about $8.1M in assessed valuation starting in July.
Rope summarized that the net assessed valuation change for the county this year was modest (~0.1%) because real-estate increases were offset by declines in oil and personal property; he recommended that numbers should be cleaner for 2027 once the new exemption process is in place at the start of the tax year.
