When Zillionaires Pay Lower Property Tax Rates Than the Inner-City Poor

[kpete]

Amid the country clubs, swimming pools and tennis courts in the wealthy enclave of Cherry Hills Village, some residents benefit from agricultural-land designations that save them tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes a year...The area has some of the priciest estates in the Denver area, with an acre of vacant land there fetching $600,000 on the private market.

But getting that land designated as agricultural lowers the value for tax purposes to below $1,000 an acre, far less than what it would cost in the poorest inner-city neighborhoods of Denver.

http://mail.denverpostbloghouse.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&p=1765524
http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/421303/when_zillionaires__pay_lower_property_tax_rates_than_the_inner-city_poor/

[Hawkeye-X]

1. I know two people living in there. Actually make that three.

No, make that four Republicans & family living in Cherry Hills Village.

It's a gated community with security guards and everything.

Nothing but miserable stuff.

Mike Shanahan was still in the *middle* of building a new house next to a client of ours (before she moved) and got fired. I wonder if he's keeping the house.

Psst, just remembered an ex-client of ours, a fifth living in there. Oh, make that 6. Geez.

[handmade34]

2. in my travels

I see it often... a large area of land with a cow or two (or horse, sheep, etc) and given the surroundings, it is obvious that the land belongs to someone who is trying their best to keep it zoned agricultural... one of the many ways that laws are designed to help the wealthy stay that way...

[matt819]

3. Bull

Just because you can't see the agricultural activity doesn't mean there isn't any. What do you expect to see when land is used for hay, for example?

And if someone chooses to have horses or cows for pleasure, manure, milk, meat, etc., who are you to say it isn't legitimate?

So what's your goal here. Run people with land off their land by running property taxes through the roof? That's what's happening throughout New England. People who've hand property in their family for generations are being destroyed by property taxes. There's a tremendous disincentive to improve your property because doing so raises your taxes. Here in NH, people's front steps are designated as porches, and people are taxed for the view their property has. Sure, it's not called that, but it's there, and it's nonsense.

So quit the kneejerk reaction and think about this more deeply. Like much else, it's not black and white, and treating it that way is insulting.

[handmade34]

4. Whoa...

no kneejerk on my part... as a former farmer, I am more than aware of land use and personal pleasures...

I am witness to many things as I travel and I am well aware that some people take advantage of low tax rates for agricultural lands...

[Lorien]

5. I've seen the same thing here in Florida

McMansion developments on former farm land, each home with a token horse, pony or even goat wandering the acreage. Just one ungulate for each home. Seems a bit obvious, imho.

[zbdent]

8. and, don't forget ...

some of those 'bagger types who have "farms" get farm subsidies from the "big gummint" ...

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

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[Art_from_Ark]

10. I agree

As someone who has had quite a few farmers in his family, I can say that there would be any number of reasons why "just a few cows" might be wandering around a seemingly huge area of land, such as the following:

1) The ability of land to support even one (grass-fed) cow differs greatly from region to region. If you feed your cattle mostly grass, you have to have a lot of room for each animal.
2) The animals might be in the barn, or being milked, or in another part of the farm, or maybe sold off.
3) As you noted, the land might be reserved for growing hay, or left fallow for conservation reasons.

And you're right about running people off their land. I've seen a lot of farms go under because they were in the way of rampant development and their owners were taxed out of existence because they couldn't pay the higher commercial/residential rate they were being charged even though the land were still being used as farmland. It is a real disgrace to treat family farmers and farmland this way.

[zbdent]

6. I remember reading an article ...

John Lennon, finally (if not accidentally) noticing something on his taxes ... "We have cows?"

That was the first I heard about that practice ... putting the absolute minimum number of "livestock" on property to get the tax break ...

[handmade34]

7. it happens

and unfortunately, as Matt819, mentioned upstream, it is not easy to fix... Lots of good people could be harmed if we don't take care in exposing the ones who are exploiting the laws... but it does happen a lot. The tax laws are written by and for the wealthy