NY State Senate Bill 2021-S5370

Senate Bill S5370

2021-2022 Legislative Session

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

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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 05, 2022	referred to local government
Mar 03, 2021	referred to local government

co-Sponsors

2021-S5370 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: Real Property Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §480-a, RPT L
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:: S4082

2021-S5370 (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.

2021-S5370 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S5370

SPONSOR: OBERACKER
 
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:

S.4082 of 2019-2020 (Local Gov't)

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S5370 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5370
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 3, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. OBERACKER -- 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.
                                                            LBD10092-01-1

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Senate Bill S5370

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Sponsored By

Peter Oberacker