Family Life

01.17.13 | Sarah Harnisch

There's been a large court case in favor of anyone wishing to buy a home or land in New York State that might have Marcellus Shale drilling potential. The Tioga County Supreme Court has ruled natural gas speculation cannot impact the taxable value of land. It means you can't sell your house based on what you think it would be worth if drilling were allowed on your property, and tax inspectors cannot raise your taxes or the assessed value of your home because of the possibility that you may allow a driller on site. It also helps farmers who want to sell their land, because their land value can't be based on neighbors who have made cash from gas drilling. The case was based on four landowners, one of them, a farmer who had his land appraised at 375-thousand dollars because of nearby land that had been drilled. A judge ruled his property, which had not been drilled, was actually worth 93-thousand.