Stay Informed

“I'm proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money,” said Arthur Godfrey, famed radio and television personality.

Godfrey died in 1983, but on the subject of property taxes, many Indiana Farm Bureau members seem to agree with him, if interviews conducted this winter are anything to go by.

Property taxes “eat away at our bottom line. I’m not suggesting we pay nothing, but it’s impossible to stay ahead in the current system,” said Kathy Kluemper, who with her husband, Ronnie, raises Charolais cattle in Dubois County.

“We’re facing decisions to sell acres just to make it all come together,” she added. “We can do that because we’re semi-retired. Full-time farmers need the acreage for their business.”

“As a young farm family, it’s an additional challenge and added cost annually,” noted Molley Hasenour. She and her husband, Colten, own and operate Walnut Valley Cattle in Dubois County, and Molley is also an extension educator in Crawford County.

Unfairness is something everyone interviewed for this article mentioned.

 “Farmers are being burdened with higher property taxes, even in years where they aren’t making money from their land,” said Sidney Shafer, who raises corn and soybeans in St. Joseph County. “As farmland values continue to go up, property taxes are going up too. It’s a very imperfect snapshot of the bigger picture, with no benefits for the farmers who are being over-taxed and haven’t made enough money to pay the taxes, let alone all the other inputs and costs.”

“Land values go up, taxes go up, and our income stays the same or goes down,” said Brian Homen, who operates a wean-to-finish hog operation in Jay County. “This is a major challenge for farmers. I think people need to understand that taxing farmers off their land will impact society as a whole.”

These two issues were also on the mind of Mark York, who has a wean-to-finish operation in Wabash County.

“It just seems we are being unfairly targeted in comparison to other property taxpayers,” he said. Farm property taxes rose by an average of 26% last year, and they are expected to go up by another 20% this year. As a contract grower, York noted, he is on a fixed income, and property taxes, electricity, LP gas and insurance have all increased in cost.

“It’s skimming the cream off of what used to be a very good business,” he said. It seems inevitable, he added, that the increase will result in further consolidation in the farm sector. “There will be attrition,” he said.

David Harrell of Johnson County noted that although agriculture is greatly affected, homeowners are also feeling the heat, particularly those on fixed incomes who “don’t have the ability to absorb the increased cost.”

Rich Chattin, who raises turkeys and is an auctioneer, a realtor and a member of the Knox County Council, said he probably looks at the issue through a different lens as a result of his position in the county. But nonetheless, he said, the effect of property taxes needs to be balanced across different groups of taxpayers.

“We need to make sure at the end of the day that it’s fairly balanced” for farms, other property taxpayers and for the county services that rely on that funding.

Aaron Chalfant of Randolph County, who raises corn and soybeans and finishes hogs, is also concerned about balance and about making taxes more dependent on the ability to pay.