New agreement resets refinery’s value

A dispute over the value of the Kenai Peninsula’s Tesoro refinery is over.

The Peninsula Clarion (http://is.gd/ou9XwM) reports that borough officials have signed off on a five-year agreement that sets annual values for property tax assessments on the single most valuable property in the area — the Tesoro refinery.

The borough had the refinery appraised at $303 million. But Tesoro disagreed with that figure and appealed the assessment. The company brought in its own appraiser and set the value at $128 million.

The board of equalization decided to set the value at $143 million. That number is being used as a benchmark in a simplified tax assessment formula.

—Associated Press