{"id":61895,"date":"2019-02-23T15:08:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T22:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/county-clamps-down-on-people-falsely-claiming-ag-tax-status\/"},"modified":"2019-02-23T22:08:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T22:08:12","slug":"county-clamps-down-on-people-falsely-claiming-ag-tax-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/county-clamps-down-on-people-falsely-claiming-ag-tax-status\/","title":{"rendered":"County clamps down on people falsely claiming ag tax status"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"
David Holub\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Davin Montoya and his family have been working the land and raising cattle in Southwest Colorado since the turn of the century.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t always been easy, and like most ranchers and farmers who dedicate themselves to the land, it\u2019s a labor of love. Market prices fluctuate, livestock contract diseases, drought strikes \u2013 it\u2019s a line of work not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really not a whole lot of money in raising livestock,\u201d Montoya said. \u201cMost of the people that do it, do it because they have a passion for it and the lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s at least a little relief that ranchers and farmers enjoy one perk: a long-standing tax break given to agricultural operators, put in place decades ago to provide some assistance to the people who grow our food, and as an added bonus, help preserve the open space that defines the Colorado landscape.<\/p>\n

\"Davin
Davin Montoya operates Montoya Sheep & Cattle Co. near Hesperus in western La Plata County. It bothers Montoya that some people take advantage of a tax break meant to help farmers.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe guard that as best we can because we don\u2019t want people that aren\u2019t in ag getting that tax break,\u201d said Tom Compton, who has raised cattle for 50 years near Breen. \u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s not fair, and second, it\u2019s irritating to see people with 80 acres not growing anything but weeds or prairie dogs, getting (the tax break).\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it is a constant problem for county governments to weed out people who declare an agricultural tax-exempt status just for the tax break. And the people who do take advantage run the gamut: Some people think they are a legit ag operation, and others just want to pay less in taxes.<\/p>\n

In La Plata County, for instance, nearly 30 people with homes valued between $250,000 and $2.8 million lost their agriculture tax status in the past three years, according to a Colorado Open Records Act filed by The Durango Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Carrie Woodson, La Plata County assessor, said her department reviews about 100 properties a year receiving the exemption that may not qualify for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real issue,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we actively work really hard to make sure it\u2019s not happening. Because, most importantly, we have to be fair to people who actually do ag on their land. That\u2019s really who we have to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working the land<\/div>\n

For land to qualify for agricultural tax status is pretty simple: A property owner must produce a product on the land and sell it for profit. Having horses for leisure or beekeeping to sell honey to friends are common uses that don\u2019t count.<\/p>\n

But the county\u2019s tax appraisers do run into complicated situations. For example, one local rancher puts his animals on other people\u2019s property, just so those people can declare the agricultural tax status.<\/p>\n

In another instance, around 2012, a rancher let his cattle graze all over the newly developed Durango Ridge Ranch, west of Durango. Homeowners in the subdivision declared agricultural status, claiming their property was being used for agriculture.<\/p>\n

A subsequent state law, prompted in part by a similar situation involving Tom Cruise\u2019s property in Telluride, now says property owners must take part in the ag operation to claim an ag tax status.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can thank Tom for that,\u201d Woodson said.<\/p>\n

And in other cases, people truly believe their land is being put to agricultural use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ag classification is for the people who put the food on all our tables,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cSo I ask people, \u2018Are you one of those people? Do you put food on our tables?\u2019 You either do or you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weeding out<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a robust and time-consuming effort for La Plata County\u2019s five rural appraisers who, every day, visit properties throughout the county to investigate whether a property receiving agricultural tax is a bona fide operation. Woodson said in some cases it can take up to three years to remove someone from the ag classification.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of time and manpower,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cBut we\u2019re dealing with a lot of taxes, and it\u2019s a very worthy project that\u2019s only fair to farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to put a number to how much La Plata County loses in property taxes as a result of people skirting the system.<\/p>\n

\"Rancher
Rancher Davin Montoya says he wouldn\u2019t be able to keep his cattle operation running if it weren\u2019t for a state tax break aimed at helping people in agriculture.<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But just as an example, someone with 35 acres in the prized Animas Valley whose property is valued at $500,000 with a house valued at $2 million would be paying about $9,000 in taxes per year under a residential tax status. If it were taxed as agricultural, it would be about $2,000 less.<\/p>\n

Multiply that by hundreds of cases throughout the county, and the total cost quickly adds up.<\/p>\n

Even ground<\/div>\n

Shawn Martini, vice president of advocacy for the Colorado Farm Bureau, said the benefit of the ag tax break can\u2019t be understated for ranchers and farmers in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Whereas other businesses and industries in most cases can pass tax burdens onto the consumer by raising their product\u2019s price, ranchers and farmers are subject to market costs out of their control.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause farmers can\u2019t adjust their price, they have to absorb costs and take taxes out of their bottom line,\u201d Martini said. \u201cSo the idea is to provide a tax break so producers don\u2019t have to take that out of already tight margins on their products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most other states, especially in the West, offer a similar grant exemption to agricultural producers, Martini said. And where it\u2019s offered, some people take advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much a problem with land in areas that\u2019s been in production a long time,\u201d Martini said. \u201cYou see it more of an issue in the urban-rural interface.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Woodson said the issue is more of a problem in La Plata County, where a population influx is encroaching on traditional farmlands, than in neighboring Archuleta and Montezuma counties. Sometimes, new people move into the county, buy a small ranch and expect the ag tax break, she said.<\/p>\n

Surviving<\/div>\n

Montoya said if he had to pay vacant land tax rates, he couldn\u2019t afford to be in the cattle business. He\u2019d have to close up shop on his family\u2019s third-generation farm and likely sell the land to a developer who\u2019d build a subdivision.<\/p>\n

Not only would the history disappear. So, too, would the open space, which provides scenic views and habitat to all kinds of wildlife. A sign on his property reads: \u201cI\u2019d rather see a cow than a condo.\u201d It is a reminder of what\u2019s at stake.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s devastating drought, for instance, took a toll, forcing Montoya to sell some of his herd.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just got to do what you have to do to survive,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

properties listed as agricultural when in fact they\u2019re not<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[281,13,28,1512,1160],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-61895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agriculture","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-government","tag-taxation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61895"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=61895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}