Caledonia Argus

Few appear at Board of Equalization meetings

Posted: 4/29/03

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

County assessor Tom Dybing is about halfway through the Board of Equalization meetings, and so far this year there have been few visitors to the meetings. Those who have missed their township or city meetings, or are not satisfied with whatever action was taken or not taken at the local meetings, will have a last chance to plead their case at the county Board of Equalization meeting on June 24.

A look at agricultural land values shows that over the last 10 years, the value of top ag land has doubled, from $1,050 in 1993 to $2,100 in 2003. According to Dybing, those values reflect a 100 percent crop equivalency rating. The majority of ag land in the county is rated at a 70 percent CER. Those values have doubled in the past 10 years as well, from $735 per acre to $1,470.

A more striking increase is found in the value of woods and waste land. By comparison, waste land has a CER of less than 16 percent. The value of waste land has increased from $30 per acre in 1993 to $1,150 in 2003. The value of woods has increased 25 times, from a value of $50 per acre to $1,250.

Dybing noted that woods and waste land were kept arbitrarily low for many years, but then people began paying a lot of money for that type of land. Since land values are based on sales of similarly rated land, values began to climb.

ìIt was an outside influence,î said Dybing. ìPeople would purchase the land for hunting or just to live out in the country.î

Between 2001 and 2002, woodland value rose from $900 per acre to $1,200. Waste land saw its largest jump between 1999 and 200, when values went from $300 per acre to $700.

It would seem that with the skyrocketing values of woods and waste land, farmers would be experiencing inflated property assessments, but a Green Acres provision prevents those values from being applied to woods and waste land located on a working farm. If they have signed up for the program, the woods and waste land are valued and taxed at $350 as long as the land is homesteaded or has been in the same family for at least seven years.

A dramatic increase has also been seen in the value of a building site with water, sewer and one acre of land: from $8,500 in 1993 to $32,000 in 2003. The largest jump in the last 10 years came between 2001 and 2002 when values went from $21,000 to $30,000. The increases are a result of people moving to the country to live, not farm.

ìThereís a good market for selling (agricultural) property,î said Dybing.

The report prepared by Dybing for the Board of Equalization meetings shows that Caledonia had a total of two new building permits for homes issued in 2002 and that the average value of the homes was $128,150. One permit was issued for the twindominium, and the value of that property (each unit), $136,100, exceeded that for the single home. There were 20 building permits issued in La Crescent with the average value of those homes at $233,060, the highest in the county. Four twindominiums were built with an average value of $114,225. In Brownsville, four building permits were issued for new houses with an average value of $178,700. In Spring Grove, there were five new permits issued with an average value of $148,600.

In the townships, La Crescent once again had the highest values with four permits issued and an average value of $203,325. Five permits were issued in Mound Prairie Township with an average value of $193,300 and five permits were issued in Mayville township. The average value of those homes is $170,960. In Caledonia Township, three permits were issued with an average value of $155,567.

The total number of permits issued in 2002 for single family homes was 79 and the average value was $182,458. There were 10 permits for twindominiums with an average value of $118,600.

In 2001, the county average value for a new home was $158,500 and the average value for a twindominium was $111,300.

Caledonia has the lowest tax capacity rate in the county, said Dybing, explaining that net tax capacity is determined by taking the value of the property in the taxing district and dividing it by the tax rate. Taxes on a $100,000 home in Caledonia are less than in other cities in the county. Caledoniaís tax capacity rate for 2003 is 124, which includes the new school. Houston has the highest tax capacity rate at 193, Eitzen is next at 179; Hokah is third with 161; La Crescentís tax capacity rate is 142; Brownsvilleís is 138 and Spring Grove is next to the bottom at 131. The presence of commercial properties helps take the tax burden off property owners, Dybing noted.

With the school operating referendum, taxes on a $100,000 home in Caledonia will increase next year by $229 to $1,187. In La Crescent, where a school operating referendum failed last fall, taxes on the same house would be $1,138.

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