Questions About Ag Exemptions and Tax Impact

To the Editor:

With the increasing acreage being converted from agriculture use to subdivisions or other nonagricultural use, it would be interesting to know just how many acres in Fayette County were converted to non ag use and lost their agriculture exemption over the past several years. I have not seen such a figure and perhaps the county assessor is the only one who knows.

Of course, property taxes are then assessed for the previous three years when the exemption is lost. And these taxes are at market value (not ag value) and also carry an interest rate. Just how much money was collected in Fayette County in this process over the last three years and passed on the various taxing entities – school district, county, water district?

As this land sits in limbo prior to a sale but after subdivision, does it lose the ag value classification? Are these taxes included in the published tax information from all these taxing entities as to how much was received?

Just how are these rollback taxes collected and distributed? Perhaps an article in the Record will shed more light.

N. Mercer

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