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indicated a somewhat different state of affairs. Despite
admitting that he was probably one of the authors of the reports
from which the graphs were taken, Mr. Hamel sought to discredit
these graphs on the basis that they merely indicated the
consensus of the five or six individuals on the various
committees. After reviewing the information as presented in his
report, we do not find Mr. Hamel’s explanation convincing. The
inconsistency causes us to question his conclusion that market
values for San Luis Obispo County rangeland peaked as of the
valuation date, leaving us with skepticism regarding the
propriety and amount of his market timing adjustment.
1. Mr. Hamel’s Adjustments for Decedent’s Partial
Interests
Once the per-acre value was obtained, the value of
decedent’s pro rata interest in each Nipomo property was obtained
by multiplying the number of acres in each property by $1,200.
The resulting figure was reduced by the percentage corresponding
to decedent's pro rata ownership in each parcel. A partial
interest discount was then calculated.
To calculate the amount of the partial interest discount,
Mr. Hamel examined 21 sales of partial interests. He found that
an inverse relationship existed between the size of the pro rata
interest and the amount of the adjustment, and he predicted that
smaller fractional interests would lead to larger discounts. He
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