2003, officials found that Jackson was getting a property tax break he wasn’t entitled to, according to an Associated Press report published by CBS News on September 9. Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch had rides, a zoo, and a house. But part of it also sat in a program meant to protect farmland.
Five months after that inspection, county officials seemed willing to accept Jackson’s offer to remove his house, amusement park, and zoo from the farmland program. The story did not say whether the board voted. The Board of Supervisors was expected to approve his request to cancel the contract during a closed session on Tuesday, the report said.
In this case, an inspection is what revealed the problem, according to the AP report. That offer wasn’t the end of the story. County officials were also contemplating punitive action with encouragement from the state. Allen Whitman, Jackson’s business manager, would not comment. It was not going to be an instant change. Chris Lyon, a division manager at the County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor’s Office, explained the difference the contract made. It’s easy to read this as celebrity news and scroll along, but the lesson is simple. Tax breaks come with conditions, and local officials can check to see if those conditions are being met. The story also implies that the program is concerned with land use. The break is aimed at undeveloped land , not a house, an amusement park, or a zoo. There is also a practical lesson for young readers who follow money and the law. A deal that lowers your bill often comes with rules, and it helps to read them early. Neverland shows what can happen when a property’s real use does not match the terms of the deal.
He would owe the county about $123,000 in taxes that year. That is 1 percent of the assessed value of the property. Without the agricultural contract, he said Neverland’s assessed value would be $5 million to $6 million higher. That would put Jackson’s taxes at around $200,000 per year.
Supervisor Naomi Schwartz said the county’s goal had been to keep as much of the property in agriculture as possible. She also said there were some unpermitted uses and officials needed to take a very close look at them. The report said the tax exemption for Jackson would gradually shrink over the next nine years on developed parts of the ranch.
