a. Abatements/Ryland; Tessier - Laserfiche WebLink

INVESTIGATION OF ABATEMENT APPLICATION ABATEMENT NO. 4229 Following is a report on the investigation of the abatement application off Ryland Development Corp. Cass County Board of Commissioners and State Tax Commissioner: The applicant is asking that the 2002 assessment on Lots 21-32 South Haven Addition be reclassified and valued as agricultural land. Mr. Ryland states that the lots are being farmed. He also states that there are no improvements such as water, sewer, gas, or roads into the property. Stanley Twp. recommended denial of the application until the subdivision was vacated by the City of Fargo. NDCC 57-02-01 defines agricultural property as "platted or unplatted lands used for raising agricultural crops or grazing farm animals." Lands platted after March 30, 1981 have additional conditions for classification. The facts would indicate that the land is being farmed with the adjacent unplatted land and the lots were platted in 1964. Therefore, under the statutes, the correct classification would be agricultural use and would therefore be valued at the agricultural land rate. There is no requirement that the lots be vacated to receive the agricultural classification. The question has been raised how long this land had been classified incorrectly. In 1983, the land classification statutes were extensively changed, which could have possibly triggered a reclassification. Also, it's not clear what years these lots were farmed and, if in other years, the lots were simply left vacant. In any case, it would appear that the lots should be classified as agricultural for 2002. SUGGESTED MOTION: "I move that Abatement//4229 be approved, as recommended by the Director of Equalization." Dated this 27th day of May, 2003. Francis Klein Director of Tax Equalization j :\tax\wpXabate