Jun 15, 2026 by Robert Herrington, INFB Marketing
This year’s property tax bills have left several Indiana Farm Bureau members unhappy and surprised about significant assessed value increases on livestock barns, grain facilities and storage structures.
INFB Senior Director of Government Affairs Ryan Hoff said members have reported jumps of 54% in Adams County and 60% in Morgan and Warrick counties. He said one member in Washington County had their taxes rise from $340,900 to $915,800 – a 169% increase.
“We are very concerned with these large increases in assessments,” Hoff said. “It can be considerable and comes at a time where the farm economy is really struggling and farmers really cannot afford more tax burden being placed on them.”
Assessed values are determined by county assessors who are required to calculate the replacement cost – minus depreciation – for structures using values that are established in to cost tables established by the state.
“Since the pandemic, there have been rapid rises in construction related costs, which in turn increased the cost tables that are adopted by the state because they reflect what is going on in the marketplace for the cost of all of the inputs into construction,” said Hoff. “This isn’t just something that ag buildings are experiencing, but any type of construction, including homes, apartment buildings and commercial buildings. However, unlike other buildings, there’s no data in which assessors can trend these values to the market value in use, which is the basis for your taxable assessed value.”
Allen County Assessor Stacey O’Day said Indiana is “in a perfect storm.” The state of Indiana updates cost tables once every four years. These tables were recently updated from the previous ones before COVID. O’Day said another underlying mechanism in the calculation dates back to 2011, when the Department of Local Government Finance had applied a -30% Verified Economic Multiplier (VEM).
“Because everything is supposed to be at market value, the assessors kind of struggled to get to market value. But the VEM actually kind of reduced the standard cost, which includes labor, materials and equipment – and those things have skyrocketed over the last several years,” she said.
O’Day, a member of the Indiana County Assessors Association, said county assessors received the new cost tables in mid-January.
“This information is fairly new to us as well,” she said. “We actually had about two and a half weeks by the time we received the cost tables until we had to send our finished product, our new assessed values, down to the state of Indiana in the form of a ratio study to be approved. The time right now is crucial to get feedback from everybody to see if there’s something that’s not on the mark or something’s too high, we do have time to address that.”
O’Day said the biggest increases seen this year are to duck and turkey barns.
“They are very large, very detailed facilities – they’re climate controlled, have ventilation, concrete floors, feeders, waters, steel-frame buildings that are very costly,” said O’Day. “We’re digging in deep to see if these cost tables actually reach what it costs to build them out in the public.”
Any property owner can appeal their assessment. The first step is an informal meeting with the county assessor’s office to review the valuation. Hoff suggests talking with your county assessor to make sure they understand what is going on within your operation.
“Assessors can and should be applying appropriate depreciation values reflecting current use and condition of the buildings. Change of use can have a dramatic impact on the value of a structure,” he said.
Assessors, which visit properties once every four years, are more likely to adjust your valuation if you can point to specific factors related to their value and use.
“Communication is key. Check your property record card. It is mandatory that all property record cards are online within your county. Take a look at that, get it in hand, and give your assessor a call and go through the details of the structures you have and be very detail-oriented,” said O’Day. “For example, a pole barn has different pricing options depending on if it has a dirt or concrete floor. Does it have electricity? Are there stall walls? There’s lots of tiny details that go into the square foot price. Working with your assessor and making sure the data is accurate is imperative.”
Depending on your assessor, some will want to meet with you prior to filing an appeal, while others will wait until after a filed appeal. Regardless, an informal meeting is required by law before a hearing in front of the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals happens.
“Ninety percent of the issues we get on tax appeals or phone calls can be handled in a one-on-one conversation. It’s a very small percent, maybe 10%, that go on to the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals,” said O’Day. “It’s not an intimidating situation. I think most assessors are willing to sit down. We want the assessments to be fair and accurate. We don’t want anybody paying more than they should be paying.”
O’Day reminds members that the state offers a heritage barn deduction for mortise and tenon buildings built prior to 1950.
“That’s a 100% deduction on that particular structure,” she said. “Another thing we are seeing right now that the legislature has done recently is the $2 million exemption. I have 10,000 farms in Allen County, but 312 are registered as farmers. Ninety-six percent of those qualify for the under $2 million exemption. So make sure you are working with your assessor, and checking the box on your 104 forms to make sure you qualify.”
The INFB policy team has already begun discussions with legislators about a simple, broad-based approach to lower the tax burden on ag buildings. INFB policy already includes support for moving agricultural buildings from the current 3% property tax cap class to 2%. Under such a change, not only would your tax cap be reduced, but also 1/3 of the assessed value of such buildings would be deducted by the time the 2025 tax reforms are fully implemented. As you talk to legislators about the concerns with ag building valuations, please share this policy with them.
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