Prime irrigated land jumping 7.4% to $6,100 per acre
Hamilton County farmers will be getting letters in the mail this week advising of a pending increase in ag land valuations, with irrigated acres going up as much as 10.3 percent and drylands acres rising as much as 8 percent.
Hamilton County Assessor Pat Sandberg reported that the increases were based on three years worth of ag land sales, dating from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2022. In Hamilton County there were 111 sales documented during that three-year span, which prompted a review from the assessor’s office to confirm that listed values are between 69 and 75 percent of market value, as required by statute.
“In Hamilton County, in order to get up to 71 percent, which I am for 2023, I had to raise my irrigated and drylands values just a little bit,” she explained. “The drylands went up 8 percent and on the irrigated there are a couple of them that went up 10 percent, but I’m still at 71 percent (of market value). I believe 72 percent works best in the school formula, but I thought that was enough of a jump and I could still be in compliance for the farmers in Hamilton County.”
Sandberg noted that not all sales were factored into the formula, which by law is up to her discretion.
“There was one sale of Kaufmann land that sold incredibly high and that one I did throw out because to me it did not represent the typical market,” she explained. “One sale does not make a market. If you start getting five, seven or 10 sales then you’ve got a trend in your market.
“I have the liberty of deciding which sales can stay and which ones I can kick out,” she continued. “A lot of times there is a sore-thumb sale that is sticking out there way different than the norm. I usually throw it out because it’s not representative of what the market is doing. It is kind of at my discretion, but if I throw out too many the Department of Revenue would come out and say if I have to reflect what is going on in our county. I do that with real estate, houses and commercial sales, as well. If there is one that is way out of whack I try to find out why, but I can throw it out so it doesn’t throw all the other ones out of whack.”
The attached chart shows the adjusted totals for various categories of irrigated, drylands, grassland and pasture ground. In addition, Sandberg noted that valuations for home sites of up to one acre jumped from $35,000 to $40,000. Sites of 1.1 to 9 acres went from $7,000 to $8,000 an acre, while building sites from 9.1 to 20 acres increased from $4,500 to 5,000 an acre.
“As you can see my home site and building site values had an increase also and that was based on the market again,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of strong acreage sales and you just can’t keep trying to revalue the buildings when a lot of those buildings are getting older.”
Sandberg reported that approximately 4,700 notices were scheduled to be mailed out by June 1, adding that property owners have until June 30 to file a protest.
“You can file a protest if you disagree, but come in and see me first,” she said. “Sometimes we can explain what we did, or sometimes people forget about that new building or whatever. If you are still unhappy with your value, or have a current appraisal that shows how much my values are off, do file a protest, then one of the county board of equalization members and I and one of my staff will come out and physically go with you around your property. That’s when you can show us what’s wrong. I’m more than happy to work with my constituents if they want to file a protest.”
For more information, go to the Nebraska Department of Revenue website and see the real property valuation protest information.