Property Tax Appeal Board Decision 2005-00752-F-1 Buss Partnership/Rodney S. Buss

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Based on the facts and exhibits presented, the Property Tax
Appeal Board hereby finds no change in the assessment of the
property as established by the Lake County Board of Review is
warranted. The correct assessed valuation of the property is:
FARMLAND HOMESITE RESIDENCE OUTBUILDINGS TOTAL
$574 $38,458 $76,652 $69,353 $185,037
Subject only to the State multiplier as applicable.
PTAB/cck/11-20
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PROPERTY TAX APPEAL BOARD'S DECISION
APPELLANT: Buss Partnership/Rodney S. Buss
DOCKET NO.: 05-00752.001-F-1
PARCEL NO.: 11-04-400-006
The parties of record before the Property Tax Appeal Board are
Buss Partnership/Rodney S. Buss, the appellant, and the Lake
County Board of Review.
The subject property consists of a 19.77-acre parcel located in
Libertyville, Libertyville Township, Illinois from which a
nursery landscaping business has operated since 1977. In
summary, the property consists of a single-family dwelling with
homesite, outbuildings, farmland and wasteland (.15-acres).
The appellant appeared before the Property Tax Appeal Board
claiming that a larger portion of the subject tract should be
classified and assessed based on agricultural use (farmland),
thereby reducing the size of the 1.78-acre tract currently
classified as homesite down to a .5-acre homesite. In support of
this contention, appellant submitted several aerial and ground-level
photographs, receipts for plants and provided testimony at
the hearing that portions of the area currently classified as
homesite have been used for farming purposes for several years
prior to 2005.
An aerial photograph of the homesite area in dispute on page 4 of
appellant's prepared materials clearly depicts a large wooded
area encircling the dwelling on three sides; it is this "mulched
propagation area" which appellant contends is erroneously
classified as homesite. In testimony, appellant described that
as of 1989 the entire area surrounding the dwelling was mowed
lawn. He further testified that this forested area around the
dwelling is known as a remnant forest consisting of many old oak,
black cherry and hickory trees. After having lost a number of
large trees in that area, appellant consulted with an arborist in
an effort to curtail the loss of these old growth trees.