A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 15, 1996
Schuylkill Farm Leaders Urge Support For Property Tax Fairness
SACRAMENTO (Schuylkill
Co.) Schuylkill County fanners
face an up-hill battle to achieve
fairness in property taxes in the
new Countywide reassessment. If
fair results are not obtained now,
farmers, theii families and their
children will be crippled by high,
unjustified taxes for the indefinite
future to come.
Md. Grain
Checkoff
EDGEWATER, Md.
The Maryland Grain
Producers Association
(MGPA) announces the
date of the referendum
to reaffirm the Mary
land Grain Checkoff as
August 16. This
announcement was
made by the president of
the MGPA, grain pro
ducer Robert Hutchison
of Cordova, Md.
The referendum will
be held from 9 a.m. until
4 p.m. at the county
cooperative extension
office. Absentee ballots
will be available from
extension offices after
July IS, or can be
obtained by writing to
MGPA, S 3 Slama Road,
Edgewater, MD 21037.
To be eligible to vote
a person must be finan
cially engaged in the
growing of grain as an
owner, tenant, or
sharecropper.
If passed by a majori
ty of those voting who
are eligible to vote, the
5-year-old Maryland
Grain Checkoff Prog
ram will continue for a
further five years from
October I. An assess
ment of one half of one
percent will be collected
on the net value of each
bushel of grain sold.
The checkoff will be
deducted at the first
point of sale on all grain,
with the exception of
soybeans which is
already under a check
off program. Any pro
ducer who does not wish
to participate in the
program can get a full or
partial refund upon writ
ten request sent to the
Maryland Grain Pro
ducers Utilization
Board (MGPUB),
which administers the
program.
For more informa
tion, contact Lynne
Hoot, (410) 956-5771.
Schuylkill County farm leaders,
who have been following the reas
sessment, have identified at least
two serious problems in valuation.
First, the new Act 319 Clean and
Green values to be placed on
farmland reflect values at least
15-20 percent too high under a
“use value” assessment. Secondly,
the homesite base acre, the acre
under the home which is not as
sessed as farmland, is being set at
more than double its actual value.
Reasons for these overassess
ments range from the use of out
dated numbers for valuation to
comparison of farm lots to build
ing lots in residential subdivisions
where there is no real comparison
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between the two. Other problems
with the reassessment include
misclassification of property and
measurement and description err
ors.
The battle in Schuylkill County
is a virtual repeat of the war that
has been waged in Lancaster
County, PA, where the County iSr
sued farm assessments several
times the original assessments on
the properties. Farmers in Lancas
ter County, horrified by the impact
of these unjustified increases,
fought the County with statewide
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support and won. The reassess
ment was halted in 1995, and the
numbers rolled back until the
County reviewed them for fairness
and accuracy.
Our County farmers need to
take action now. Appeals of the
informal results have taken place.
In July, the formal numbers will
be issued. A Schuylkill County
Farm Bureau Tax Appeal Fund
has been established through the
Farm Bureau to challenge the in
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Pennsylvania
Betts Equipment
3139 Windy Bush Road.Rt 232
New Hope, PA 18938
215-598-7501
C.B. Hoober &
Son, Inc.
Mam Street
Intercourse, PA 17534
717-768-8231
Cannonsburg Supply
& Equipment Co.
RD 1. Box 247
Cannonsburg, PA 15317
412-746-2500
Deerfield Ag &
Turf Center, Inc.
RR 2 Box 212
Watsontown, PA 17777
717-538-3557
Detlan
Equipment, Inc.
141 East Main St.
Silverdale, PA 18962
215-257-5177
Dunkle & Grieb, Inc.
RR 2, Box 14
Centre Hall, PA 16828
814-364-1421
Eckroth Bros
Farm Equipment
Rd 2, Box 24A
New Rmgold, PA 17960
717-943-2131
New Jersey
Caldwell Tractor &
Equipment, Inc.
480 U.S. Route 46
Fairfield, N.J. 07006
201-227-6772
Rodio Tractor Sales
North White Horse Pike
Hammonton, N.J. 08037
609-561-0141
creases, and petitions have been
circulated. Support is being
sought and obtained from farm
owners throughout the County. It
has been over 35 years since the
last reassessment. The numbers
that are put into effect now will
form the basis for farm property
taxes for generations to come.
For more information, contact:
KEITH MASSER, Route 25. Box
210 Sacramento, PA 17968, (717)
682-3709 or (717) 682-9304.
Hines Equipment
RT. 220, Belwood, PA
814-742-8171
Keller Brothers
R 7 Box 405
Lebanon, PA 17042
717-949-6501
1950 Fruitville Pike
Lancaster, PA 17601
717-569-2500
Lost Creek
Implement, Inc.
Route 35, Box 123
Oakland Mill, PA 17076
717-463-2161
M.S. Yearsly & Sons
West Chester, PA
610-696-2990
Marshall
Machinery, Inc.
Route 652
Honesdale, PA 18431
717-729-7117
Nicarry
Equipment Co.
RD 2, Rt. 61,3 Miles S.
of Leesport, Reading, PA
610-926-2441
Norman 0. Clark &
Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Frank Rymon & Sons, Inc.
R 0 3, Box 355
Washington, N.J. 07882
908-689-1464
Warren County Service Center
228 Route 94
Blairtown, N.J.
906-362-6916
Pikeville
Equipment Inc.
RD 2, Oysterdale Road
Oley, PA 19547
610-927-6277
Sollenberger’s
• Equipment, Inc.
80 State St.
Everett, PA 15537
814-652-6990
Stoltzfus Farm
Service
Cochranville, PA
610-593-2407
Stouffer Bros Inc.
1066 Lincoln Way West
Chambersburg, PA 17201
717-263-8424
Thomas L. Dunlap
Rt. 220, Mam St. Exit
Jersey Shore, PA 17740
717-398-1391
Tractor Parts Co.
335 Central Road
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
717-784-0260
Triple H
Equipment, Inc.
2368 Robert Fulton Hwy.
Peach Bottom, PA 17563
717-548-3775