Prime irrigated land jumping 23.6% to $8,100 per acre
More than 6,000 Hamilton County residents received letters in the mail last week advising of a pending increase in ag land and residential property valuations, with irrigated acres going up as much as 23.6 percent and many homes by approximately 9 percent.
Hamilton County Assessor Pat Sandberg reported that letters must be sent out to any property owners whose valuation has changed in the past year, which this year was more than 65 percent.
“We mailed out the most I’ve mailed out in a long, long time, over 6,000 notices,” Sandberg said from her office in the courthouse. “I have 9,200 parcels or something like that, and what happened is in order to be in compliance with Nebraska statute (LB 77-5023) I had to raise the structures in Aurora city residential by 9 percent and the rural residential and farm place structures by 5 percent. Even after we revalued the rural residential property structures we still had to raise them overall another 5 percent because acreages are a hot commodity.”
Sandberg noted that the ag land increases were based on three years worth of sales, dating from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2023.
“I know there is some discontent among the farmers of the sales of property that are not being done with farmers,” she added. “It is being done with an outside source and that’s been quite a moment of discontent. I have no control over who buys the ag land, but those sales numbers are what I have to use.”
According to the updated 2024 valuation spreadsheet, 1A1 irrigated ag land increased from $6,550 to $8,100 per acre, while 4A irrigated land went up from $5,200 to $7,500 per acre. Dryland remained the same at $5,300 per acre.
The attached chart shows the adjusted totals for various categories of irrigated, dryland, grassland and pasture ground.
Market driven changes
Sandberg reported that all the valuation changes were market driven, noting that meant she also had to revalue housing lots in the Mariposa subdivision by the river as well as many commercial lots.
“In order to be in compliance we have to keep up with the sales and everything is hot,” she explained. “It just seems that a house isn’t on the market for very long and it’s gone. If I don’t get in compliance, then the Department of Revenue comes out and does it for us, and we don’t need them out here.”
“I realize that people may be saying, ‘Well, I’m not going to sell my house,”’ Sandberg added. “And if you do, I don’t know where you’ll go because you’ll have to pay a lot again. I’m just hoping people will understand that your real estate is a very valuable asset for you. It makes you worth more, but there are probably some people that won’t be happy with that.”
Sandberg reported that property owners have until July 1 to file a protest.
“We do encourage property owners to come into our office,” she said. “Let’s go over your card, make sure we’ve got it right. And the ag land, if you have dry corners and we’re assessing irrigated or vice versa, we do really want your records right. And if you don’t know why it went up or how it went up, come in and we’ll show you the sales or we can go over your card. We’ve had several people come in and go, ‘Now I understand,’ and that’s what we really want is you to understand how we come up with the value.”
Sandberg also suggested that senior citizens be aware of the Homestead exemption, which she said is a very good program for those who qualify.
“People that are over 65 that have not tried for Homestead exemption, you have until the end of the month and we’ll be happy to help you fill out that paperwork,” she said. “If you’re not sure you’re qualified, come up here and we’ll go over it with you.”