{"url":"https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-15/indiana-farm-bureau-farm-building-assessments","markdown_url":"https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-15/indiana-farm-bureau-farm-building-assessments.md","title":"Indiana Farm Bureau Flags 29% Farm Building Assessment Rise","headline":"Indiana Farm Bureau Tells Lawmakers Farm Building Assessments Rose 29%, Seeking Valuation Changes","description":"Indiana Farm Bureau told lawmakers farm building assessed values rose 29%, about $2 billion, and proposed moving agricultural improvements to a lower tax cap.","section":"Regulation & Approvals","published_at":"2026-10-15T09:13:00+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-15T09:13:00+00:00","author":"News Desk","key_takeaways":["Indiana Farm Bureau said agricultural building assessed values rose 29%, about $2 billion for taxes payable in 2027.","The organization proposed moving agricultural improvements from the 3% property tax cap category to the 2% category, estimating about $44 million in savings.","Public comments on readoption of Indiana's real property assessment rule close October 23."],"companies":[{"name":"Indiana Farm Bureau","is_primary":true,"profile_url":null,"website":"https://www.infarmbureau.org"},{"name":"Policy Analytics","is_primary":false,"profile_url":"https://akta.pro/company-profiles/002kghu/policy-analytics","website":"https://www.policyanalyticsllc.com"}],"source":{"publisher":"Yahoo","title":"Increases in farm building assessments fuel calls to revisit Indiana’s property valuation system","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/increases-farm-building-assessments-fuel-081500617.html"},"other_sources":[{"publisher":"Punch Newspapers","url":"https://punchng.com/nrs-seals-kaduna-electric-headquarters-over-unpaid-taxes/"},{"publisher":"Fort Collins Coloradoan","url":"https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/10/01/ballot-issue-7a-would-fund-passenger-rail-on-colorados-front-range/91904794007/"}],"tags":["Regulation & Approvals","Indiana Farm Bureau","Policy Analytics"],"body_markdown":"Indiana Farm Bureau representatives told the Interim Study Committee on Fiscal Policy on October 15 that assessed values for agricultural buildings rose 29%, about $2 billion in additional assessed value for taxes payable in 2027, and urged lawmakers to revisit the state's property valuation system, according to [Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/increases-farm-building-assessments-fuel-081500617.html). The organization said updated state cost tables pushed up values for barns, grain bins and livestock facilities ahead of next year's tax bills.\n\n## What the Farm Bureau Analysis Found\n\nKatrina Hall, Indiana Farm Bureau's senior director of policy strategy and advocacy, said the organization commissioned [Policy Analytics](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/002kghu/policy-analytics) to examine agricultural building assessments after members reported large increases earlier this year. The analysis initially showed a statewide increase of about 44% in assessed value for the buildings studied, Hall said, and later data reflecting appeals and discussions with assessors reduced that increase to 29%. More than half of the parcels in the later analysis had increases of at least 15%, she said, and the figures show how much assessed values increased, not how much farmers' tax bills will rise.\n\nHall said the discrepancies suggest a problem with statewide consistency, because some assessors adjusted the cost tables while others appeared to use them without similar changes, leaving identical buildings of the same age with different values in neighboring counties. She argued that appeals cannot substitute for correcting the underlying assessment process. \"Appeals are like a parcel at a time,\" Hall said. \"They are not fixing problems with assessing in the tax base.\"\n\nThe Farm Bureau asked the state to consider a nationally recognized valuation system such as Marshall & Swift and to examine outdated depreciation schedules, and proposed moving agricultural improvements from the 3% property tax cap category to the 2% category. Hall said its analysis estimated about $44 million in savings across agricultural properties, a tax relief change separate from revisions to assessment methods.\n\n## State Officials Defend Annual Adjustments\n\nTim Rushenberg, general counsel for the Department of Local Government Finance, said Indiana can change its assessment tools but the results must still meet constitutional requirements for uniform, equal and just valuations. \"An individual parcel can see a higher bill even when the district rate falls, or a lower bill despite increasing gross assessed value,\" Rushenberg said. \"There's a lot of moving parts, so there is no reliable shortcut from gross assessed value to taxpayer impact.\"\n\nBarry Wood, the department's assessment division director, said the state previously updated cost schedules once every four years and is moving toward annual review of the schedules or a related adjustment factor. Rushenberg said the department wants construction costs, appraisals and other evidence to evaluate whether particular agricultural building schedules need correction.\n\n## Tax Disputes Elsewhere\n\nIn Nigeria, the Nigeria Revenue Service sealed Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company's headquarters in Kaduna over unpaid statutory taxes, [Punch Newspapers](https://punchng.com/nrs-seals-kaduna-electric-headquarters-over-unpaid-taxes/) reported on October 5. In Colorado, Ballot Issue 7A proposes a 0.333% sales tax to fund Front Range Passenger Rail, raising $295 million annually, the [Fort Collins Coloradoan](https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/10/01/ballot-issue-7a-would-fund-passenger-rail-on-colorados-front-range/91904794007/) reported on October 1, with Election Day on November 3.\n\n## Next Steps for Indiana Farm Bureau\n\nPublic comments on readoption of the state's real property assessment rule close October 23. An assessor-led pilot of automated valuation models is underway in Hendricks, Clark, Lake, Vanderburgh, LaPorte and Allen counties, and the department recommended beginning with an advisory or quality-control pilot that retains local assessor judgment and taxpayers' notice and appeal rights.\n","publisher":{"name":"News for Agent","url":"https://newsforagent.com"}}