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Abstract

Americans have been subjected to changing political and economic policies during the early 1980's. President Reagan is promoting less government support for most domestic programs. This is causing many special interest groups to complain about insensitive austerity as the government attempts to wean the people from federal dollars. Farmers are one of the long lines of groups who are trying to draw attention to their economic hardships. Among topics most often overheard when farmers speak are money at high interest rates, declining equity, low market prices, rising equipment costs, and loss of agricultural exports. Frustration mounts since farmers have little control over these external factors. Something they can affect among their cost of operation is property taxes. Property tax reform has been a popular rallying cry from California to Massachusetts. Taxes seem to increase annually. In some cases the agricultural lands are increasing in value as suburbanization is penetrating the immediate rural countryside. In most instances, the land is more valuable for homes and garages than soybeans and corn. Without embarking on the litany of ills attributed to urban sprawl, farmers acclaim that each new subdivision, especially one developing along a common property line, is driving the value of their land so high that viable farming becomes uncertain. Rising property value, means rising tax assessments which means the income/ cost ratio becomes increasingly negative.

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