What would you do if the valuation on your land went up by more than 1,000 percent? A Sarpy County landowner's farmland jumped in value by more than $600,000.

"The three original owners were my uncles and my dad,” says landowner Janis McReynolds. “They had no education. My dad started farming. He farmed here for 78 years of his life."

The farm has been in the McReynolds' family for nearly 100 years. The two farmhouses and cornfields sit across the road from the Gretna outlet malls. "We'd like to stay here. We'd like to sell it obviously, but we can't afford taxes like this."

Last week, Janis got her 2009 property tax valuation form from Sarpy County. One parcel that was valued at about $48,000 in 2008 jumped to $651,000 in 2009. The reason is the 33 acres at the corner of highways six and 31 was recently annexed by the city of Gretna.

"Therefore, we cannot classify it as agricultural land and it can't receive agricultural value, so that land would have been valued more like residential land,” says Sarpy County Assessor Dan Pittman. “It's not recognized as having an agricultural value by the state of Nebraska."

Janis and other family members rent out the land, but she says the rent will only bring in about $12,000 this year and that will only be about half of her 2009 tax bill.

"Yes, we'd like to sell it. Yeah, I'd be glad to pay the taxes on it when it's sold, but I'm not going to pay these taxes because I'm on a limited income and I'm not living out here to live in the lap of luxury."

The valuation on her house also went up by $50,000. Pittman says a number of farmstead's saw a significant rise in valuations this year. He says the increased valuations were long overdue and reflect changes in the rural housing market.

The Sarpy County Assessor’s Office is currently hearing valuation protests.