Bourbon County officials held a meeting to discuss how agricultural land valuations are determined, compared with other valuations statewide. The meeting, organized by county appraiser Clinton Anderson, was held after several local agricultural landowners questioned the amount of increase they have seen in their property taxes.
Deputy Director Roger Hamm provided an overview of ag land valuations for the state.
“What I want us to know, and what some of the legislators don’t know, is the property tax, ad valorem tax, is what funds the local governments,” Hamm told the Fort Scott Tribune. “A lot of those individuals don’t know that. They don’t understand what the property tax is or where it goes. And that’s kind of sad because county commission, school boards, college boards, township boards, we all understand those funds are needed and all the services they provide.”
About 60 people attended the meeting to hear Hamm and Zoe Gehr, agricultural use value coordinator, of the Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Property Valuation.
Gehr explained the equation used to determine ag land value. Agricultural land value is not based on the market value of the property, but the productivity of the land. An equation is used to equalize the appraised value of Kansas agricultural land, she said.
The equation is based on an eight-year average, which means the appraised value of ag land will change as a more recent year is included in the average and an older year is eliminated.
Some information used to obtain ag land value in Bourbon County is obtained from the Southeast Kansas Reporting District. Gehr said the state uses district information when county-specific information is not available.
The average is part of an equation the state uses to provide the valuations numbers to counties. Gehr said when using the eight-year average, there is always a two-year lag.