County’s value set just over $2.6 billion

The total value of Whitman County property will be 3.4 percent higher in 2010 than it was in 2009.

Assessor Joe Reynolds certified a total county valuation for 2010 of $2,628,585,260 Monday, after the county’s board of equalization concluded business for the year. Total value in 2009 was $2,541,136,905.

Reynolds said the $87.4 million increase was a result of more than $50 million worth of new construction and an increase in the county’s open space valuations.

Open space, which assesses farmland on the basis of production rather than market value, rose 9.9 percent across the county, spurred by the steep spike in the price of wheat in 2007 and 2008.