Values for the vast majority of ag land in Cowley County increased for 2019, according to the county appraiser’s office.
According to information for Tuesday morning’s county commission meeting, 97 percent of agriculture properties in the county saw increased values. Two percent decreased and one percent remained unchanged. The median farm homesite value for 2019 is $102,480.
All real estate properties were re-valued as of Jan. 1. Per statutory requirements, change of value notices were mailed to all real property owners on March 1 with the exception of state assessed property.
“Ag land is valued by the state,” Cowley County Appraiser Lori Reedy told KSOK-NewsCow Tuesday. “We don’t actually set the value per acre, the state does that and they work on that in conjunction with K-State.
“It’s basically an 8-year average of an 8-year average. And the reason why they do that is to try and avoid the steep hills and valleys, because we know how volatile commodity prices can be.”
While high property values can be a positive for financing or those selling land, they can also increase property taxes owed. Reedy said she’s heard concerns from farmers about increasing values because of just that.
“I understand that people have issues with the increase — I’ve talked with a lot of people about it,” she said. “I think the average increase per acre in Cowley County, according to the state, was about 12 percent, which is a pretty sizable increase.”
Reedy said a couple profitable years earlier within the 8-year average has kept values from dropping.
“Basically, if the year that falls off is worse than the year that comes on, you’re going to continue to see increases,” she said. “I think once those two higher years fall off, you’ll start to see that come down some.”
Reedy said ag land values in western Kansas have already began decreasing.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve seen that,” she said. “Southeast Kansas appears to really be where the more sizable increases were for this year. I think the high end was around 15 percent and Cowley County is right around the edge of that region.”
Overall for the county, 2019 Total Appraised Value added up to $1.85 million, compared to 2018’s appraised value of $1.75 million — or an increase of 5.1 percent.
Of that $1.85 million, $1.42 million was considered taxable.
When adjusted to exclude new construction value, the overall taxable value was an increase of 3 percent. The new KanPak facility came on as taxable in 2019, but will likely be exempted.
According to the county, 50 percent of residential properties increased in value, 30 percent decreased and 20 percent remain unchanged for 2019. The median residential value is $56,300 in Cowley County. For commercial property, 50 percent of values increased with 25 percent unchanged and 25 percent decreased. Median commercial value listed at $67,600.
