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The dispute over use-value on some Wisconsin farmland

Seems not all rural Wisconsin lawmakers oppose the proposed change in the definition of farmland in the state’s budget repair bill. Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker of Weston introduced the change saying local municipalities are complaining that developers own land and plant a few crops on it so it qualifies for use-value assessment. Decker’s proposal would remove use-value for land which is zoned or platted residential, commercial or industrial. Eau Claire Senator Pat Kreitlow agrees, he told WCCN radio in Neillsville there are a lot of non-farmers taking advantage of use-value, reaping a tax benefit that was not intended for them.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the driving force behind use-value assessment, opposes the change saying it will push farmland out of production quickly as owners will have to develop the property to pay the higher taxes. In a letter to members of the Wisconsin Legislature on Tuesday, Paul Zimmerman with WFBF cited as an example a Farm Bureau member in the Green Bay area with 700 acres all zoned rural residential. Zimmerman says the young dairy farmer would see his tax bill go from $3.50 per acre to $85 per acre for a total increase of $60,000 if the change goes through.

Wisconsin Farmers Union President Sue Beitlich also called on legislators to get the change out saying, “While some developers are turning use-value assessment methods into a property tax loophole, changing the definition of agricultural land does far more harm than good.” Beitlich points out an estimated 750,000 acres of the nearly 12 million acres of farmland in Wisconsin are not zoned for agriculture