Cry for the poor wealthy!

Some famous faces, names also get ag-land tax breaks in Colo.

Actors, captains of industry, an Ivy League astrologer, sports figures, politicians, energy giants, schoolteachers from Pasadena, Calif. All these are also considered farmers or ranchers for tax purposes in Colorado. They have secured low property taxes through agricultural designations on land they own even though they personally have little or nothing to do with producing food — the reason state legislators originally created a low property-tax rate for the agriculture sector.

In some cases, the properties where they have second, third or fourth homes were traditional working ranches before they were sold to the wealthy and became what, in real-estate lingo, are termed “gentleman ranches”

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“Farm” owners

Tom Cruise
Actor
Property: Five parcels of land on a mesa northwest of Telluride, about 248 acres in a region of high-end vacation homes
Property tax: $400

Gail Schwartz
State senator
Property: 15.4 acres of partially irrigated meadowland near Basalt
Property tax: $54.52

Charlie Ergen
Media mogul
Property: The Enchanted Mesa Ranch, nearly 600 acres near Ridgway
Property tax: $3,185

Walker Stapleton
Treasurer
Property: 6.4 acres and a cabin in Gunnison County; 180 acres near Castle Rock
Property tax: $1,618; $116

Klaus Obermeyer
Ski pioneer
Property: 3.2 acres along a road that parallels Colorado 82 near Basalt
Property tax: $27.80

Goldie Hawn
Actor
Property: 34.56 acres and a 2,700- square-foot home that adjoins Kurt Russell’s property with two residences
Property tax: $2,873