Applications for Ohio Farm Bureau Health Plans now available
Members have three ways to apply: contacting a certified agent, calling 833-468-4280 or visiting ohiofarmbureauhealthplans.org.
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Two cases regarding Current Agricultural Use Value were decided in favor of landowners earlier this month by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Ohio Farm Bureau supported plaintiffs in both cases through amicus briefs, according to Leah Curtis, policy counsel and senior director of member engagement. The cases involved woodland owners in 20 counties.
“The decision in the first case preserves the right of a landowner to appeal the CAUV values on the whole at the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals when the tax commissioner issues the final list of soil values,” Curtis said. “This is what we advocated for in our amicus brief, to ensure landowners have their opportunity to be heard by the Board of Tax Appeals.”
The BTA had previously ruled in favor of the tax commissioner that it did not have jurisdiction over an appeal of CAUV values, because they were not a “final determination” as required by Ohio law.
The second case was a rule review challenge wherein the landowners alleged that the CAUV values themselves were rules and the CAUV rules were unreasonable because they did not require the values to go through the full rule-making process, Curtis said.
“The court dismissed the claim that the CAUV values are rules,” Curtis said. “While they are final determinations and appealable, they are not rules as the Revised Code defines. OFBF had expressed concerns to the court that treating farmland values as individual rules could have politicized the value-setting process.”
CAUV values are considered a “final determination” and as such are under the jurisdiction of the Board of Tax Appeals to hear appeals, Curtis said.
The plaintiffs included landowners from Adams, Athens, Champagne, Gallia, Hancock, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Medina, Meigs, Miami, Morrow, Pike, Richland, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Vinton and Washington counties who appealed their CAUV values to the BTA. They argued the state had calculated too low of a cost for clearing woodlands when determining the CAUV values of their woodlands. The case will return to the Board of Tax Appeals for further proceedings.
My first recommendation in your journey is to start out with a local farming friend or mentor along with joining an organization like Ohio Farm Bureau.
We’re just so thankful for the Farm Bureau and the foundation for helping put this together. And of course, the Boyert family for the vision they had with this grant. It’s jumping us forward 10 years. It’s unbelievable.
I could not have done it without the resources I have found through Farm Bureau.
It wasn’t until I joined the Wilmington College Collegiate Farm Bureau that I truly saw how my passion could translate into leadership, advocacy and a career.
The issue of property taxation remains as one of the biggest challenges our members face today. Ensuring agricultural property is valued for its agricultural potential and not development is critical to the continued success of Ohio agriculture.
Through the Select Partner program, we became educated in farm insurance and weren't just selling policies. It became more and more clear why farmers need an advocate like Ohio Farm Bureau.
So many of the issues that OFBF and its members are advocating for are important to all Ohioans. I look at OFBF as an agricultural watchdog advocating for farmers and rural communities across Ohio.
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