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Pennington County board restores Johnson parcelassessment after landfill dispute and ag-adjustment request
Summary
After hearing testimony about trash from the nearby city landfill and a denied state ag-adjustment form, the Pennington County Board of Equalization voted to keep the parcel's assessment at last year's level rather than accept a lower ag valuation proposed by the property owners.
The Pennington County Board of Equalization on Tuesday kept the agricultural land assessment for a 518-acre parcel owned by Ross and Fern Johnson at the prior year's level after hearing testimony about landfill debris and a contested ag-land adjustment.
The board voted to leave the land assessment at the same value it carried in 2024. The vote followed detailed testimony from Shannon Champion, senior appraiser in the county equalization office, and extended remarks from Fern Johnson about trash, surface discharges and a long-running dispute with the city landfill.
Champion opened the hearing by identifying the parcel (tax ID 55488) as "a 5 18 acre parcel" located south of town along Highway 79 and said the part of the appeal concerned the ag land value, not the residence. She told the board the county had no evidence that soil productivity had been reduced and that a requested ag-land adjustment had been denied by the state; she recommended no change to the assessor's valuation.
Fern Johnson said the family purchased the ranch in 2013 and described decades of trash blown onto the property from the city landfill, which she said lacks a valid surface water discharge permit for certain acreage and has not filed required permit renewals since 2012. Johnson told the board she has documented trash on the 106-acre portion near the landfill and estimated that about 80% of the 518 acres are affected by debris that has accumulated and blown across fences.
Johnson also said the city offered to "release liability to the property owners" so city crews could remove debris from the land, but she said her insurance would not allow her to accept that arrangement and that the County's formal denial of an ag adjustment relied on a state form the property owner had requested but not received. She cited the Water Pollution Control Act and other guidance when arguing the landfill's operations affected the parcel's productivity.
Commissioners debated soil-based assessment methodology, which Champion said follows U.S. Department of Agriculture soil surveys and state Department of Revenue productivity factors. At one point a commissioner proposed equaling the assessment to adjacent parcels at $235 per acre; another proposed leaving the prior year's ag adjustment intact. After substitute motions and discussion, the board voted to keep the 2024 assessment for the parcel.
The board—s action leaves the parcel's ag-land assessment at the level the board set in 2024; the record shows the parcel is also subject to ongoing litigation between the property owners and the city over landfill-related claims. The board's decision was limited to the 2025 assessment and does not change any pending or past court proceedings.
The board moved directly from the Johnson appeal to other property appeals on the agenda after the vote.
