NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4082

Senate Bill S4082

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to expanding eligibility of privately owned forest land for a partial real property tax exemption

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to local government
Feb 27, 2019	referred to local government

2019-S4082 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: Real Property Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §480-a, RPT L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S5370

2019-S4082 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Expands eligibility of privately owned forest land for a partial real property tax exemption; reduces the amount of acreage needed to qualify from 50 to 25 acres.

2019-S4082 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4082

SPONSOR: SEWARD
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation
to eligibility of privately owned forest land for a real property tax
exemption

 
PURPOSE:

To expand the eligibility of privately owned forest land for a partial
real property tax exemption.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one: Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of Section 480-a of the Real
Property Tax Law, as amended by Chapter 428 of the Laws of 1987, is
amended to change the number of acres required from fifty contiguous
acres to twenty-five contiguous acres. In addition, the bill adds
timber, pulp, biomass, low-grade wood products, wildlife, fruits or
mushrooms to the definition of "eligible tract" in terms of excluding
areas devoted to their production.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The majority of New York State's land is forested and offers many bene-
fits, including forest products, natural habitats for wildlife, beauti-
ful recreational areas, and clean air. Chapter 428 of the Laws of 1987
recognized the need to protect forests from improper harvesting and
provided the owners of forestland a fair and equitable long-range taxa-
tion program, which would encourage sound forest management practices on
their land. This is even more important today. Therefore, the bill will
allow owners of forested property to participate in this program with 25
contiguous acres rather than the current requirement of 50 contiguous
acres, the goal being to improve participation in the forest management
program by increasing the number of qualified landowners, which will
protect more of our valuable forestland. This will thereby encourage a
more ecologically sound approach to forest management. Healthy managed
forests sequester more carbon than do unmanaged and over-mature forests,
and it is vital we ensure as many landowners as possible have access to
the program.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S4082 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4082
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 27, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  SEWARD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to eligibility of
   privately owned forest land for a real property tax exemption
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 480-a of the real
 property  tax  law,  as  amended  by chapter 428 of the laws of 1987, is
 amended to read as follows:
   (e) "Eligible tract" shall mean a tract of privately owned forest land
 of at least [fifty]  TWENTY-FIVE  contiguous  acres,  exclusive  of  any
 portion  thereof  not devoted to the production of forest crops, TIMBER,
 PULP, BIOMASS, LOW-GRADE WOOD PRODUCTS, WILDLIFE, FRUITS  OR  MUSHROOMS.
 Lands  divided  by  federal,  state,  county or town roads, easements or
 rights-of-way, or energy transmission corridors  or  similar  facilities
 will  be  considered  contiguous  for  purposes  of this section, unless
 vehicular access for forest management purposes is precluded. Lands from
 which a merchantable forest crop has been cut or  removed  within  three
 years  prior  to  the  time  of application for certification under this
 section will be ineligible unless such cutting  or  removal  was  accom-
 plished under a forest management [program] PLAN designed to provide for
 the continuing production of merchantable forest crops.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05962-03-9

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