(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

O/T Real Estate Taxes

J

John B.

Well-known Member
My parents own a samll farm in Illinois and a major 2-lane hiway has been planned (for 20 years) to cut it in half diagonally. Their ground is worth a small fortune I guess you could say. Ironically the property taxes have been declining every year for the last 20 years. Is this so the state can buy the land at fair market value? Why is this?.

Unfortunately my parents can't sell their house or any other property with out giving the state first chance at it, they're not allowed to build any structure or tear any down either. The state has come into their home and taken pictures thru out the entire house. My parents would like to sell and move into a smaller house for retirement. If I told you what their taxes are on 40 acres you would faint. My parents are not the only ones affected. There are other adjoining landowners in the same situation.
I guess we're not supposed to ask questions or understand why!
 
Have they talked to a lawyer? Sounds like Illinois takes Eminent Domain a little too far. They haven't actually sold the land to the state or signed any kind of contract have they? I don't know how the state could tie up private property that way without at least going through the courts?
 
Yes my parents and any adjoining land owner involved have all hired the same lawyer. It seems to be working well for them so far. They're fighting for more money right now.

They're not talking $$ per acre, it's $$$ per square foot. There's 43,560 sq ft in one acre.
 
IN 1971,MY DAD S FARM (owned by 3,farmed only by him)WAS CUT THRU ONE CORNER BY THE STATE OF KENTUCKY,FOR I 275 ON RT 16.THIS WAS THE CORNER WHERE HIS POND,AND ALL BUILDINGS,EXCEPT ONE STOOD.(THIS LAST BUILDING WAS SOON AFTER BURNT BY VANDALS.)THE STATE WOULD NOT PAY FOR ANY FENCING,BUIDING,OR LOSS OF INCOME,(AS HE WAS MILKING COWS AND HAD NO OTHER BUILDING TO USE FOR MILKING).ALL THEY PAID,IF I RECALL CORRECTLY,WAS .10 CENTS PER SQUARE FOOT.I AM NOT A FAN OF EMENENT DOMAIN FOR ANY REASON.IT WORRIED MY DAD TERIBLE FOR 3 OR 4 YEARS,BUT HE DID SUCESSFULLY SWITCH TO BEEF.
MARK
MARK
 
My parents were offered $3.88 a square foot at the beginning,that's what it averaged up to be.
I'm sorry to hear about your dad's situation. There is a local farmer close to us that had a dairy farm near my parents and he was bought out by the govt years ago. He had to reinvest the money in a given time or give half of it back I was told. Well he went back into the dairy business and his son was running the show but got involved in drugs and now they are 1.5 million in debt and have to sell.

I always tell my son and daughter;

You never see an old drug user or drug dealer.
99% of the time any way.
 
3.88 per square foot comes out to a large sum of money per acre. Unless I am figuring wrong they sound like they are doing alright.
 
Sounds like they are in eternal negociations with the state over the property, and have some agreements in place.

They could sell at any time, but only the state is offering the huge amounts, so they are waiting for the state to actually go ahead.

Not quite as dire as you make it sound, but rather a tremendous windfall for them _if_ they stick to the agreements and _if_ the state comes through?

--->Paul
 
Well I am curious. We just bought 50 acres that joins my creek farm in central MO. The taxes on the 50 acres was right at $41.00. Total

Granted this recreational land, 10 acres prarie grass field with 40 acres timber with a branch running through it.

Here Recreational land is worth the same, if not a little more, than ag land. Talked to a friend who is an appraiser with Farm Credit. He said values really hadn't gone down much. At least not yet.
 
Hi El Toro,

6.75 million is correct if they buy all 40 acres. luckily they don't want all of it for now anyway. My grand father bought it years ago in the early 1930's for $65 an acre. How times have changed.


John
 
So there's going to be a mighty big gain on the sale of the land. Will your parents have to pay big income taxes on the income just like a regular private land sale or is this different when the state condemns the land.Jim
 
I was just last week dealing on a 160 acre parcel. Some woodland mostly useless bottem land that you cant ditch or improve in any way. County had it assessed at $235000. Price has been dropped all the way to $79,900. I offered $30,000. Highest bid is $60,000. Tirns out the owner bought it for hunting land very cheap. Is selling now because the county is taxing it as residential/recreation. Ridiculous.
 
If Illinois is like most states, it seldom works out well to fight the state when they decide they need your land. (At least not for the landowner; I'm sure the lawyers on both sides make out well.)

The declining property value doesn't surprise me: There is only one potential buyer for the property.
 
That's quit a few years between then and now and I don't know if the laws have changed. Ky has to pay if the property left is valued less after they take theirs. Some arguement might be that your property is suddenly worth a lot more because of all the road frontage you gain, but then obviously less if you lose barns and income.
We're having major hwy renovations here so they send some jackleg around to low ball and he offered us $500 and said they rounded it up. I'm up to 10K and still after them. A lot of people took the low ball because there's a general idea around here that you can't fight the state.
 
Well now your parents are screwed. external_link's proposed capital gains tax will double their tax liability.
 
> Is selling now because the county is taxing it as residential/recreation. Ridiculous.

I think this was a great change. Over the past 10 years or so, all the woodland here in SE MN has been selling as hunting land at insanely high prices ($3000+ an acre for wood land). 95% of the buyers are from the Twin Cities metro buying hunting land. As a result all the farmer's property taxes are rising out of control. The change lets farmers stay in the cheaper tax range (Green Acres) as long as the land is either used for ag production or is adjoining. This puts the tax burden back on the people buying the land as a luxury item at inflated prices.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Done with baling forever
Replies
12
Views
2K
John S-B
J
Geo-TH,In
Solar Energy: property taxes and net metering
Replies
11
Views
370
Vito
Vito
K
1943 Farmall H transmission project and mouse problem
Replies
5
Views
417
BarnyardEngineering
BarnyardEngineering
Ultradog MN
High School Reunion
2 3
Replies
40
Views
5K
Bill in Colo
B
J
Trying to get a burnt IH tractor to a good home
Replies
14
Views
2K
jimbrain
J
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top