Download Quarry Assessment Policy in Surrounding States

Quarry Assessment Policy in Surrounding States
Summary of information (from Dave) – I contacted assessors from the NCRAAO list and either
talked to them or other assessors they referred me to. One commonality among all those I
talked to is that no one has ever heard of a quarry assessment being appealed. Another
common thread is that no assessor ever gets to see income and expense data, nor are they
permitted to know the quality and quantity of the available stone. Further muddying the issue,
is that some states are not allowed to assess the mineral rights, and therefore they place a
waste land price on valuable quarry property. Another similarity is that quarries in rural areas
tend to sell for near or just above what the good quality farmland sells for, even though it has
far less productive capacity. There is one state that shows promise in borrowing assessment
policy from and that is Wisconsin. Quarries there are assessed by the state Department of
Revenue, they have a decent amount of sale data they have tracked for years. Dan Storm is
planning on attending NCRAAO and I hope to talk to him further in June at the conference.
Kansas: from Della Rowley - I just got this income approach from an appraiser. He isn’t sure where it
came from, but it is interesting. His biggest concern was that this doesn’t take into account the cost to
put back the property to its original state. The other thing he said was that the stone or whatever is
being taken out, is a depleting asset and he feels that should be taken into consideration. Interesting to
say the least. I’ll keep you informed as I get more information. They should assess mineral rights there.
The value/ acre rate shown below is applied against the whole tract. Prime farm land in this area goes
for around 5,000/acre.
Illinois: Wendy Ryerson (Lee County) 815-288-4483 She’s not comfortable with the assessment method,
and acknowledges that the assessments are probably low as there are never any appeals. As well, this
process doesn’t do a good job of valuing what remains as opposed to what has been mined away.. They
value the entire quarry parcel around the same price as the best quality crop land ($15,000/ Acre). Most
sites have between 40 and 250 acres.
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North Dakota: Kevin Ternes was contacted. Burke, Grand Forks, and Mountrail counties report the same
rate for the active pit areas and slightly different values for the stockpile and depleted areas. I talked to
Lori Hanson from Mountrail County. The values they use are almost identical to the one below. They are
not allowed to assess mineral rights so these values are for the land only. High quality farm land in their
area sell for around 2,500/ acre
South Dakota: Renee Buck sent me to Kyle Helseth in Minnehaha County. They value the quarry area
@5,000/ acre and the process is basically a self-reporting process that has evolved between the owner
and assessor over time. The good quality crop land in that area sells for 10k to 12k per acre. The main
difference is that mineral rights are not assessable. This muddies the valuation process because what is
the value of a quarry without the mineral rights?
Nebraska: In 2007 the county wanted to have all their Rock Quarries reappraised (they are along the
Missouri River and have significant quarry land). They ended hiring an appraiser from Reno NV. He
received no cooperation from the quarry companies. He ended up using an approach very similar to
what was recommended to us by Mr. Art Pincomb. He did a discounted cash flow. One of the properties
he valued was owned by Martin Marietta. Martin Marietta ended up taking the county to TERC
(Nebraska’s equivalent to PAAB). Their argument was not that the value was wrong, but that if you are
going to value the mineral rights on their quarry that you must value the mineral rights of every parcel in
the county. They gave testimony that they know there are numerous deposits under parcels of land now
classified as agricultural, industrial, residential, etc. To be fair to quarry owners these mineral rights
must also be valued. They won the argument and TERC had them remove all “mineral right” values from
the quarry properties until such time that the mineral rights were valued for every parcel in the county.
Missouri: Scot Van Meter – Scott only has one quarry in his county. He doesn’t think the minerial rights
are assessable. Of the 180 acres the quarry owns, 50 are active or mined quarry, and the remaining 130
are farmland. He assesses the 50 acres at 5,000/ acre and the 130 acres on a state mandated method for
farmland. He feels there is no consistency within that state when assessing quarry land.
Wisconsin: In Wisconsin quarrying comes under manufacturing so Dan Storm from Dept. of Revenue
Manufacturing Division is the suggested contact: (608) 266-6484. Dan sent assessment information on a
number of parcels. The summary from 2 counties is pasted below. They also have a list of all quarry sales
dating back to 1993. An image of the most recent sales is the second image below.
Minnesota: Stephen Baker (Ramsey Co) Stephen referred me on to Jeff Johnson (Stearns Co)
320.656.3683. Jeff said they don’t assess the mineral rights. The assessed value of the active quarry and
future reserves areas are assessed between 3,500 to 7,000 / acre. Waste and depleted areas are
assessed at 750 to 1,500/ acre. The best quality cropland is worth around 6,300/ acre.