Section 48.08. Assessing benefits to agricultural lands.

 

(1)   Factors considered. When assessing benefits to agricultural lands in a drainage district, a county drainage board shall consider all of the following factors:

(a) The estimated increase in land value resulting from drainage. When estimating an increase in land value, a county drainage board may consider the current and potential uses of the land, taking into account any deed restrictions, easements, restrictive covenants, or other use limitations recorded with the county register of deeds. A potential use does not include a use that is prohibited by law.

(b) The type, depth, quality and character of surface soil and subsoil on the assessed land, and the depth of the water table on that land.

(c) The amount of drainage required by, or provided to the assessed land.

(d) The thoroughness and reliability of drainage provided.

(e) The amount and frequency of flooding on the assessed land.

(f) The difficulty of draining the assessed land.

(g) Other factors which the county drainage board considers relevant.

(2)   Benefits assessed by 40-acre parcels. Benefits to agricultural lands shall be assessed parcel by parcel, with each parcel being not larger than 40 acres. If a landowner's parcel is larger than 40 acres, benefits shall be assessed for sub-parcels that are not larger than 40 acres each.

(3)   Acreage excluded from assessment. A county drainage board shall exclude the following acreage from any assessment of benefits under this subchapter:

(a) Acreage in a district corridor unless the county drainage board authorizes the landowner, under s. ATCP 48.24 (5) , to engage in row cropping in the district corridor.

(b) Acreage permanently lost to the landowner because of the construction, restoration or maintenance of district drains or corridors, or the deposition of materials excavated in connection with that construction, restoration or maintenance.

(4)   Land use categories. When estimating land values under sub. (1) (a) , a county drainage board may consider any of the following land use categories or other categories which the county drainage board considers appropriate:

(a) Residential uses.

(b) Commercial uses.

(c) Cropland, including dryland cropland, pasture, irrigated cropland or cranberry cropland.

(d) Abandoned cropland, including former agricultural land not currently used for agricultural, residential or commercial purposes.

(e) Woodland, including managed and unmanaged woodlands.

(f) Wetlands, including soils with standing water that have no significant agricultural value.

(5)   Drainage assumptions. When estimating land values associated with a potential use, a county drainage board may assume that the drained lands have access to an outlet at the formally established grade profile and cross-section, and that the necessary on-site drainage facilities are installed to permit the potential use.

Cr. Register, June, 1995, No. 474 , eff. 7-1-95; am. (1) (a) and (b), r. (1) (g), renum. (1) (h) to be (1) (g), cr. (3) to (5), Register, August, 1999, No. 524 , eff. 9-1-99.

Note

Soils with high water tables normally receive the greatest benefit from drainage. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Information relevant to the assessment of benefits may be obtained from a variety of sources including soil survey reports, aerial photographs, topographic maps, cropping histories, wetland maps, maps of original benefitted acres, interviews with individual landowners and on-site investigations. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 See s. 88.35 , Stats. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1