Taxes and water

Dear Editor,

I'd like to add some more thought to Tim McKillip's Open Forum on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 titled "No Problems?!"

Mr. McKillip reported the effects of idling irrigated land and reassessing the property value from irrigated to dryland in Hayes County. I have been collecting figures for all five counties within the Middle Republican NRD for a year now and would like to add my findings to Mr. McKillip's.

These figures were provided by the Nebraska Department of Assessment and Taxation and reflect the 2007 tax year. The (first) data table ... shows total county valuations and irrigation valuations along with average valuations per acre for dryland and irrigated property.

(The) next data set shows the percent loss in irrigation valuation (reverting irrigated land to dryland) and the resulting lost valuation in each county followed by the lost tax revenue caused by the reduced property valuations. The last two columns show the 2007 taxes levied in each county and then calculates the needed levy increases to maintain current spending by local governmental subdivisions.

The entire district has a valuation of $1.647 billion, if all irrigated land was reverted back to dryland use the district would lose about 8 percentof the total valuation or $131 million. If there was a significant reduction in irrigated acres other sectors of property within the district would see reductions in value due to reduced economic activity. Many school districts within the basin are already taxing at or near the maximum levy allotted by state law, if those schools are unable to get a levy override they would have to make drastic cuts to programs to maintain their budgets or dissolve. Local county budgets will also have to cut services to maintain the tax rates that we are currently paying. All of these cuts mean reduced economic activity and lost jobs and would add to the economic devastation. The last column in the second data set forecasts the rate that taxes would have to go up to maintain current tax revenues. If a homeowner in Hayes Center owned a house valuated at $60,000 the taxes would increase by 51 cents per $100 valuation or $306 per year, in Hitchcock County the property taxes would increase by $46.80 on the same house. Hopefully this "doomsday" scenario never plays out, but when irrigated land is idled to dryland or allocations are lowered and production is reduced, more people than the farmer are affected. It is hard to predict what might happen in the future, but in Southwest Nebraska water policy plays a key role in economic stability for the region. Changes in water policy must reflect a balance between resource sustainability and economic viability.

Dan Nelsen, Director

Middle Republican NRD, Moorefield