thinking of giving up gardening

Well WTD, this is the first time that I have ever heard of a garden having a negative effect.
As long as you are living in that county with such unfair taxing practices, who could blame you for taking such drastic actions. It's just a shame. It sounds like it's time for a organized protest by the county's citizens (or at the minimum, the county's home owners).
I assunme that each county decides for itsself what sort of taxing formula to use to tax it's citizens. These people are perhaps elected, and thus would be sensitive to negative publicity especially at election time.
Personally, I could let something that cost me 30,000 dollars influence my vote. It affects me and my wallet directly.
Oh well... the bottom line is that it is not nice that you should be penalized for having a pleasurable and harmless hobby...one that; by the way, adds to the general beauty of community.

_________________
Sjoerd http://www.volkstuindersvereniginghoornenomstreken.nl/Page11.html

Well, I was just posting while emotional about the tax valuation. I won't give up gardening. I bought a mess of petunias yesterday! I will just have to fight it at a protest hearing.

Our appraisal district is staffed by appointed people and the board is appointed by the various taxing entities in the region: city, county, water district, school districts, hospital district. If they do not lower my valuation, I will go to the elected officials of the entities which tax me and complain to them that their appointees are screwing the citizens over. It's not that I think I live in a shacl (although it is less than ideal) it's that the rise in valuation over 2 years is $30,000! That's too much of a jump.

I thought about testing the market by putting a for sale sign in the yard at their asking price just to see. I think that could backfire, though. My little town is 10 miles East of the big city. Lots of folks move from small towns to my small town. They get to be near the big city (200,000 people) and their doctors & the airpoprt and all the big city stuff, but have the small town atmosphere. I admit that houses sell pretty well here, as there are not as many houses as their are potential buyers. It is a seller's market here most of the time, because so many people want to move here. But our real estate does sell for less than the stuff in the big city, according to a friend of mine, who's a realtor & a lawyer. He told me once, this house we're in would go for significantly more in the big city than what we paid for it. For that reason, I think an inflated price might not scare buyers away. Plus, I wouldn't want to deal with the lookie-lous.