USE VALUE DEBATE HEATS UP
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 -- 12:47 PM
As the week wears on, the battle over use value assessment is getting more heated.As we reported on Monday, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau is up in arms over a Senate budget provision that would change the definition of ag land for property tax purposes...to exclude any land that is platted or zoned for rural, residential, commercial or industrial use.
Sen. Pat Kreitlow said he and his colleagues are just trying to close a loophole in the law that developers are taking advantage of.
Kreitlow comments didn?t sit well with the Farm Bureau. On Tuesday, they issued a terse press release saying Kreitlow ?didn?t know what he was talking about.?
Chief Administrative Officer Roger Cliff said the proposed change could be ?the beginning of the end of use value,? which he called ?the best thing this state has ever done to preserve farmland.?
Kreitlow maintains the Farm Bureau has plenty of non-farmer members, who benefit from the loophole.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.