Land Values Dip Nearly 3 Percent In Antelope County

Antelope County saw a nearly 3 percent drop in valuation in the last year, but most of cities and villages registered increases.

According to the valuations certified last Friday by Antelope County Assessor Kelly Mueller, the county’s general valuation decreased from $2,621,664,154 to $2,545,073,947 or 2.92 percent.

“I don’t think anyone has been surprised by the certified values at all,” Mueller said. “Anytime you have ag land go down in a county like Antelope, it’s going to drive the whole value of the county.”

Mueller said the ag land values decreased with both irrigated and dryland. Grassland, she said, increased. She said it wasn’t just ag land that went down though.

“Looking at personal property, people just haven’t spent money like they have in the past,” she said. “Personal property alone was down about $7 million. That’s a relatively large decrease. When farmers aren’t making as much money, they aren’t going to spend as much on equipment.”

In 2016, personal property was $140,158,220. This year, it was $132,491,197. That’s a 5.47 percent decrease.
While the county decreased overall, nearly every city or village increased in valuation. Brunswick and Royal were the exception.

Neligh saw the largest increase in valuation at $2.68 million, but it was nearby Oakdale that went up the highest in percentage at nearly 10 percent. Neligh’s increase was 4.03 percent. Orchard also saw a sizeable increase in valuations, up 3.59 percent.

​As for schools, every district with land in the county decreased in valuation, which will affect the district levies. Elkhorn Valley saw the largest decline at 3.71 percent; however, the district also has a substantial amount of land in Madison County. Elgin’s decreased 3.4 percent while Neligh-Oakdale went down 2.7 percent. Orchard had a 2.69 percent decline.