“Across rural Wisconsin, farmland owners will notice declines in their assessed values somewhere between 1.5 and 2 percent,” said Bill Bruins, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. “Given the depressed farm economy and housing market, this decrease in assessed value was actually expected.”
 

“This is good news because at a time when our state’s farm economy is facing some tough sledding, it’s vital that property taxes remain in check,” he said. “However, given that mill rates are expected to go up in many municipalities, decreased assessed values will not automatically result in lower tax bills.”

“What remains very clear is the importance of our state’s use value assessment of farmland law. This law which has resulted in annual savings of over $400 million in property taxes to farmers was threatened during last year’s state budget deliberations,” Bruins noted. “

 

“There is lots of talk about saving farmland, but the use value law remains the best tool we have to keep land in farming, rather than being financially forced to sell it off to the pressures of recreational or developmental uses,” Bruins said.

 

“An equitable tax structure helps Wisconsin’s farm families compete during a volatile time for agriculture,” said Bruins, a dairy farmer from Fond du Lac County. “The use value law remains a cornerstone of a thriving agriculture industry, and that’s good news for the job market and Wisconsin’s general economy.”