As reported by the Richmond Palladium:
Property tax increases likely
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana farmers likely will see property tax increases on farmland this year as the base rate for tax assessment jumps by $200 per acre for 2012 taxes.
Farmers should expect the base rates to continue to climb at least into 2015, based on the current formula.
An agreement reached in the Legislature on the farmland property tax formula ends in 2013, which has held down the base value by $200 per acre. Statewide reassessment also occurs in 2013.
The current higher base value for agricultural land is the result of several good farming years, based on a six-year rolling average under which the year with the highest value is dropped.
Farmland assessment for 2012 will be $1,500 per acre, up from $1,290 for 2011 taxes, said Larry DeBoer, Purdue University agricultural economics professor.
The Department of Local Government Finance used data from 2004-2009 crop years to determine the 2013 base rate of $1,630, DeBoer said. Because commodity prices have remained high and interest rates low, the base rate for taxes in 2014 will be about $1,760. For taxes in 2015, it will be about $2,030.
The six-year average and four-year lag also mean the high commodity prices and low interest rates in 2012 will first enter the tax formula in 2016 and will not drop out until 2022.
"The base rate is likely to increase and remain high for a long, long time," DeBoer said.
http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012202120329
