Why big developers are classing vacant plots as ‘farms’ to win huge tax breaks – and how it passes burden on to YOU

Open, lush green areas around the Plaza at Kansas City’s Speedway outdoor shopping center have been converted into “farms.”

These lands have no livestock or agriculture, but are instead covered in waste.

County Appraiser Matt Willard explained: ‘Cattle don’t eat waste. And that’s what gets messed up in that situation. Literally waste from the surrounding buildings.

‘I’m not a farmer. But if I were, and you tried to sell that to me, I would laugh in your face. There is no point.’

While these lands may not be of any use to Kansans, builders in the area have long been fighting to acquire property.

Thanks to a large property tax cut introduced by city lawmakers in the 1980s, farmland owners can pay virtually no taxes.

Kansas tax law defines agriculture or animal husbandry as any activity that involves growing or growing agricultural products or agricultural and ranch work for pay.

On this basis, anyone engaged in the production of agricultural products for resale can claim an agricultural exemption.

But while the law specifies what types of activities qualify as farming, it is not clear whether the owner’s future plans will affect tax levies.

This has given agents a free hand to own such lands without paying taxes until they decide to develop the area – something that has also been approved by the state court.

Douglas Knop, property tax representative, said: ‘What we do is the right way, according to the law.

“We’re not doing it the wrong way or anything. We do what the law says we can do.”

The Kansas tax code defines farming or ranching as any activity that involves the raising or raising of agricultural products or for payment on the farm or ranch. On this basis, anyone engaged in the production of agricultural products for resale can claim an agricultural exemption

Agents have free control over ownership of ‘farmlands’ without paying taxes until they decide to develop the area – a major problem for locals

‘Farms’ around the Plaza at the Speedway outdoor shopping center have caused problems among developers and locals in the area.

The “farms” surrounding the area are embroiled in a legal dispute filed by the United Government of Wyandotte County and KCK.

Willard said of the dispute: “It’s a good statute for what it was intended to be: allowing farmers to continue producing crops.

“If it ends up in these other situations, it’s tax avoidance.”

In a residential area in Wyandotte County, 17 vacant lots are still classified as small farms, which pay about $10 a year in property taxes

According to the Kansas City starthe tax owed on a two-acre parcel of “farmland” near the Kohl’s and Sam’s Club was $25,031.38.

But under the law, the assessor’s office estimated the bill could easily drop to $17 – a major problem for locals in the area.

In a residential area in Wyandotte County, 17 vacant lots are still classified as small farms, which pay about $10 a year in property taxes.

As the Kansas Court of Appeals rules on the open-air mall farms case, Willard said, “I really feel like it’s a statute issue.

“I think the solution is that clarifying language needs to be added…that provides guidance to county assessors, the Board of Tax Appeals and taxpayers.

‘That is what we want from the Court of Appeal. In other words: is that okay? Is that what we want to do? Or should we add some clarifying language to say what a farm is? That’s the hope of this. And we’ll see.’