House Bill 108, sponsored by Representative Eric Tillman on behalf of the Department of Revenue, would remove a statutory requirement that the department develop and use a supplemental valuation guide for agricultural implements and machinery not listed in the official valuation guide. DOR witnesses said the supplemental manual dates to 1998, is out of date, and contractors were unwilling to update it.

Robin Rude, deputy administrator of the DOR Property Assessment Division, told the committee the manual contains older listings such as land levelers, grain drills, sprayers, bale and stack wagons, portable corral panels and similar items. “Rather than using that old guide and trying to trend that up 27 years, we would ask the owner for their costs and what year they purchased it and then apply depreciation to their actual costs,” Rude said.

Committee members asked about substantiation and class treatment. Rude said the department values such equipment using the year acquired and acquired cost under existing regulation and treats the equipment as class 8 business equipment (personal property). She explained the system is self-reporting—owners supply year and cost; receipts are not required at filing but could be requested if the property is audited.

DOR staff said they had tried to contract for an updated manual but did not get bidders. The department recommended removing the dated statutory requirement and valuing implements consistently with other personal property. No opponents were recorded during the hearing.