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The Problem: This study of the administration of the oil property taxes in Ellis County was made for the purpose of suggesting improvements to modernize the tax structure of the local units of government in the state of Kansas. Methods and Procedures Employed: Many past and present oil property tax assessments were examined and read and comparisons were made between the valuations of selected oil properties in the past with their present values. Books dealing with the oil assessment procedure were also read, and the General Statutes of Kansas were surveyed for laws which concern the oil assessment procedure. Interviews with those county officers who have a role to play in the administration of the oil property tax were a major source of information. Summary and Findings: A lot of oil property is escaping taxation each year. The reason for this is that the assessment procedure has remained basically the same since its inception, and thus it fails to take into consideration the increase in the values of the various items of oil property over the years. The oil and gas schedule does not provide sufficient space for an adequate description of property being assessed. It was recommended that state legislature be passed which requires the oil companies to list all of their oil properties for assessment purposes, that the oil property tax system should be modernized and kept up to date, and that the oil and gas schedule should be enlarged to allow for a more adequate description of oil properties. It was recommended that better qualifications should be adopted for the holder of the oil assessor's office, and more on the job privileges should be provided for him.