An association of private elk producers in New Mexico fears tax assessments on elk farms could skyrocket if a decision in Rio Arriba County becomes the rule.
The county assessor’s office dropped the agricultural designation on 27,000 acres of land, arguing that elk operations don’t constitute an agricultural use. The move jolted tax assessments last year from $2.1 million to $21 million at Lodge at Chamba, the Jicarilla nation’s off-reservation luxury hunting resort.
The association was formed in April as a marketing and development group and represents fifteen Class A game parks licensed by the state Department of Game and Fish.
The assessor said he took another look at the assessed valuation of the lodge after an employee discovered ads for recreational uses, including $13,000 elk hunts.
The tribal appeal is before the state Court of Appeals. The tribe argues its property is being treated differently than ranches and game parks in other counties. At least nine other counties value property materially identical to the resort as agricultural property, said Stephen Greetham, an attorney from the firm representing the tribe. He said the assessment on the Jicarilla operation could become the rule statewide if the Rio Arriba tax protest board is upheld.
