Landowners push back on steep assessment hikes for WRP land

Nearly every time property assessments shift across the county, there are bound to be challenges a homeowner or landowner might feel the numbers dont fairly reflect market value. And the last thing anyone wants is to pay more in taxes because of it.
Some assessments get adjusted, others dont, either because thats where the market stands, or because the law doesnt allow for change.
Thats the position several Moody County landowners found themselves in after appealing their most recent county assessments.
This past week, a group of landowners appeared before Moody County Commissioners and the Director of Equalization, questioning why they were being assessed nearly 50 percent more over the next two years on land under Wetland Reserve Easements the same rate applied to productive farmland. The issue, they said, is they cant earn anything from WRP land, yet its valued as if they could.
Do you guys think this is fair for me to pay the same amount of taxes on land that has no income off of it versus the land across the road, which I have income off of it, do you think thats fair? asked Doug Entringer.
Commissioners acknowledged the frustration, and in some cases even agreed. But, they said, their hands were tied the law is the law. Theres currently no state statute that allows reductions for WRP land assessments. Theres also no way to remove land once its been designated under a conservation easement.
WRP agreements are between the federal government and individual landowners. The program aims to help private and tribal landowners protect, restore and enhance wetlands which have been previously degraded due to agricultural uses.
Landowners receive a one-time lump sum payment in exchange for placing the land into permanent conservation unlike the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which pays an annual rental fee for land taken out of ag production for a 10- to 15-year term.
Each WRP agreement can be slightly different, said Moody County Director of Equalization DeAnna Berke. Common restrictions include no dumping, grazing, mowing or haying, planting, building, or spraying. And again, unlike CRP, WRP agreements are typically permanent.
One landowner said his father never would have enrolled the land if he had realized how strict and ever-changing the restrictions might become.
Commissioners encouraged landowners to band together and take their concerns to a broader platform, including South Dakotas state and national legislative delegations.
As it stands, the assessments remain unchanged valued as agricultural land. For non-ag properties, assessments must be at least 85% of whats considered market value. The county had previously been offering a break on the WRP-designated land, but state officials required Berke to make the correction.
More information on Wetland Reserve Easements is available at:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/wre-wetland-reserve-easements