The battle between the Lancaster County Board of Equalization and the county assessor over greenbelt tax breaks is still going a year after a legislative change sparked it.

And it looks like property owners who fought their way out of the disagreement last year could find themselves reeled back in this summer.

The state greenbelt program, created in 1974, was designed to protect farmers near cities from property tax increases as encroaching development pushed up land values. Greenbelt land is taxed on its agricultural use rather than its higher market value.

A change in state law that took effect last year forced a more narrow definition of who should qualify for the tax break, but that interpretation fell on individual county assessors to determine.

The Lancaster County assessor’s office mailed 982 notices last year informing acreage owners they no longer qualified for the tax break.

About 500 of those owners protested the change through the County Board, sitting as the Board of Equalization, which reinstated the tax break on 400 of the properties.

The majority of landowners who had their greenbelt designation reinstated used such evidence as a Farm Service Agency number — which signals the federal government’s stamp of approval as an agricultural operation — and a federal tax schedule F, which lists income and expenses for a farm.

County Assessor Norm Agena and Rob Ogden, his chief field deputy, argued the designation should apply only on parcels whose primary use was agriculture.

Cathy Lang, who was the state’s property tax administrator at the time, said that interpretation was consistent with others across the state, although she acknowledged the possibility of disagreement. She advised the board to make conservative rulings.

Had the 400 not been reinstated, the county would have increased its tax base by about $28 million, which would yield about $77,000 in taxes to the county, Agena said.

The appeals are continuing, filed by Agena, property owners and the board. Most are awaiting decisions from the state Tax Equalization & Review Commission.

The county board has taken four cases to the state Court of Appeals — with those fights costing the county about $30,000 total in attorney fees, Agena said. The assessor’s office has spent another $5,000 for its attorney.

Agena plans to mail out disqualification notices affecting about 400 properties, likely in July, including all of those who had their greenbelt designation reinstated by the Board of Equalization last year.

Commissioners said they would like to seek an opinion from the county attorney about whether they can expedite the process this year by blanket approval on protests they reviewed last year. Kerry Eagan, the county’s chief administrator, cautioned commissioners on asking for a blanket motion because it could include cases they may not have heard last year.

A bill introduced by state Sen. Carol Hudkins that sought to clarify the greenbelt interpretation issue was signed into law this year, but won’t take effect until next year.  Carol Hudkins is the wife of County Board member Larry Hudkins.

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.