After consulting with the county's attorney, the Cole County Board of Equalization reversed a decision made earlier in the week on whether to abate some properties and take them off the tax rolls.
On Monday, the board rejected the request from Cole County Collector Larry Vincent because BOE members had some questions about what, if any, legal actions could come about if they took that action.
After talking with its legal advisers, the BOE met briefly met Friday morning and approved the request from Vincent.
"These are unusable pieces of land," Vincent said. "There's no ownership changes with this action."
The properties abated included three pieces of property on .63 acres on Settlers Ridge Drive that had been used for a spillway for water runoff and water retention. The last known owners were JC Boonville Properties LLC, of Jefferson City.
There was .13 acres of property on Shawn Drive, near Covered Wagon Road, that was abated. The last known owners included were Carol Sue Sonius, Pamela Kay Hall and Danita Lyn.
Also abated was .93 acres of property on Cotton Tail Lane and .27 acres of land on Old Stage Road, both last known to be owned by Mary Stegeman of Centertown.
The last property was .72 acres on Renns Lake Road with the last known owner being Patricia Renn.
"We have tried to sell these properties, but no one ever bids on them," Vincent said.