I find myself both in a state of near-total agreement with Cory in this posting over at Madville Times, and in a state of astonishment at this unusual occurrence.

This is really a very badly screwed up system…under it’s application in Moody County, some very high productivity land in the southern part of the county had their assessments reduced, while land in the NW part of the county, qualitatively rated as mediocre based both on soil types as well as actual production figures had increases in the range of +50%. Result overall: our smallish county ended up with the highest increased assessment under the new order.

We had the opportunity to visit with Sen. Peterson (D), as well as Sen. Knudsen (R) who were involved in drafting the bill. While both agreed that the implementation in our county was not at all what they thought was in the law, neither could offer any resolution beyond the normal appeal process through the Township Board and thence to the Board of Assessment (County Councilors with a different “hat”.) Beyond that, nothing. It WAS amusing to see my wife literally back Knudsen into a corner as he tried to escape after one of the Gov. candidate forums at Brookings, but it didn’t help any with the problem.

As far as the appeal process…after presenting eleven years of actual and exact production figures for each field, both the township and county were in agreement about the quality and accuracy of our records…and made a minor tweak to the assessment, and said, “Have a nice day!”

As far as the County Treasurer was concerned, she stated to us that her hands were tied by the new law…and that she HAD to make the 55% increase in assessment in one year, which directly contradicted the STATED intent of Peterson, Knudsen, and company in the new law.

So, where does that leave things? Hopefully not where Sen. Rhoden wants them to be. Time will tell…meanwhile we figuratively batten down the hatches and await the onslaught of next years tax bill based on the new assessment. It’s not a joyful prospect.