Taxes on Ohio farmland to jump this year

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio farmers could see a higher bill come tax day as a state department has upgraded the value of their land.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that the Ohio Department of Taxation has increased the value of farmland to reflect rising agricultural incomes.

Ohio farmers pulled in $7.9 billion last year, and that total is expected to rise this year. Corn prices have jumped 43 percent since 2008, while soybean prices have increased 39 percent in the same period.

The jump in farm value usually means higher property taxes for farmers, but by how much is uncertain until the tax bill comes in December, following property reappraisals and updates in 41 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

“There’s some sticker shock among farmers,” Shelley Wilson, a state tax administrator, told the newspaper. “It’s kind of a perfect storm. The increase in crop prices and consistently low interest rates increased farm values.”

Farmers pay taxes based on a 2008 average tax value of $249 per acre, which jumped 181 percent to a 2011 average of $700 an acre. However, taxes won’t double just because a farm’s value doubled.

Larry Gearhardt, local-affairs director for the Ohio Farm Bureau, told The Dispatch that expiring taxes and tax-reduction factors will restrain the percentage of property tax increases below increases in the value of the property.