OTTAWA — The average appraisal for farm land went up by more 11 percent this year in Franklin County, Franklin County Appraiser Philip Dudley told county commissioners. Compared to most counties in the area, Franklin County farm land increased the most..
He says that the average appraisal for farm land went up by more 11 percent this year in Franklin County. He said that might sound odd, given the recent years of severe drought but he said that ironically, the increase is because of the drought. In Kansas, farm land isn’t appraised on its fair market value; instead, it’s valued according to what it produces over an eight-year cycle, or “use value,” he explained. The appraisals serve as the basis of property taxes later. Because of the drought, appraisals of hay land and pasture went up because that type of land was producing more and more valuable ag products compared to crop land, he said. There tends to be a lot more of hay and pasture land in Franklin County than in many surrounding counties, Dudley said. For example, Miami County’s farm appraisals went down slightly even though the prices of farm land are skyrocketing as speculators snap up and hold land for future real estate development, he said. Much of the land in Miami County is crop land, and less is used for hay and pasture, he said. He said the farm land appraisals are done by the state.
Wednesday, March 13, noon
