A bill to prevent an estimated $57 million property tax increase on Indiana farmers was approved by the state senate on Feb. 5.

State Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) said Senate Bill 319 would delay, for an additional year, the implementation of a new federal formula for assessing farmland property taxes.

“This means the formula used for the March 1, 2011, assessment date will be used again for the March 1, 2013, assessment date,” he said. “This legislation is all about helping the 62,000 farmers and their families in our state.”

Kenley said the new proposed “soil productivity factors” for farmland assessment could cause an 18-percent average increase in property tax payments for residents, depending on which counties they call home.

“I’m afraid that could be enough to put some of our hard-working farmers – who are already struggling because of last year’s drought – out of business,” he said. “That is why I supported SB 319, which will now be heard in the House of Representatives.”