Larry and Wanda Thoreson once grew alfalfa on their 135 acres just northeast of Zimmerman. Then Larry decided to plant trees, lots of trees, figuring the land would be more appealing to developers that way.
"We're on fixed incomes now and we looked at this land as our retirement, our nest egg," said Larry Thoreson, 67. "We had some trees coming up that we were really happy with."
But now, Thoreson is clearing his four parcels of land as quickly as possible, turning much of it back into farmland, cutting down the trees he adores. He says he can't afford to keep the trees because of new twists to the Green Acres Program...
With nonproductive acres susceptible to taxes far higher than taxes placed on tillable soil, and with a Jan. 2 deadline for declaring property that can be used for agriculture production, farmers are scrambling for solutions as they clear land they never thought they'd again farm....
"I pay $36 a year for one parcel of land," he said "But in 2009, if that land is not considered tillable, the taxes go up to $700 a year for that parcel."
(Note that the taxes are not lowered for farming the land, just for making it "tillable" by removing the trees. An excellent example of the old saw that there is not law (or tax policy) that doesn't have unintended consequences)
No comments:
Post a Comment