Senate lawmakers approved a measure Tuesday to revise the formula used to calculate the value of bare farmland for assessment, a process farmers believe is currently unfair, according to State Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg).

Senate lawmakers voted 50-0 in support of Senate Bill 396 sending the measure to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

Leising, co-author of the bill, said state figures show farmers are experiencing unanticipated increases in farmland assessments based on an experimental formula crafted in 2006.

Leising attributes the increase in farmland assessed values to the increase in grain prices that occurred when ethanol production was increased following the spike in oil prices.

A statewide per-acre value for agricultural land is set each year by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF). Currently, DLGF uses an adjusted six-year average and takes into account net-income and cash-rent models, according to Leising. The base rate used for calculating the assessed value has doubled in a five-year period.

Senate Bill 396, supported by the Indiana Farm Bureau, would use an adjusted rolling average that eliminates the highest and lowest values over a six-year period. This is known by economists as the “Olympic Average.” The model would give farmers and local governments more stable agricultural property assessments.

Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Services Agency routinely use the Olympic Average technique in determining agri-business programs nationwide, including here in Indiana.

Leising stated, “Lawmakers have worked together to reduce the dependence of schools on property taxes.” The state now pays the operating funds for public schools from the state general fund. “This legislation helps give stability to our farmers who have seen their farmland assessments double.”