Limit break to real farmers
Source: Asbury Park Press
October 10, 2007
Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, and her husband receive a hefty tax break for their Marlboro property's farmland classification. She said they sell $500 to $1,000 worth of Christmas trees and cord wood, making the property eligible for that classification.
Her opponent in November's election, Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, last week criticized Karcher's farm for meeting only the minimum in sales to qualify for a farmland assessment. Republicans say that reduces her property taxes by about $14,000. While Karcher's not breaking any laws, she is taking advantage of a program meant to help true farmers.
We're all for preserving farmland. But it's not right to put full-time farmers whose primary source of income comes from working the land in the same classification as a wealthy landowner making minimum use of the property.
The state's farmland assessment program has been criticized as a way for wealthy landowners to receive property tax reductions by meeting the minimum sales of $500 from products grown on their property. The state should re-examine this program and see if it should be changed to better reflect the different uses of land involved.
Karcher, who campaigns as a reformer trying to right the wrongs exposed by corruption, should reconsider her own participation in the program. Property taxes are high for everyone. People who can afford to purchase a large piece of property shouldn't be granted a full farmland tax break by simply meeting the minimum in farmland income. They're not likely to be as tempted to sell off that land to a developer, the way a struggling farmer might.
Gov. Corzine should ask Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus to re-evaluate the program and farm classifications. Middle- and low-income families struggling to hang on to their smaller parcels shouldn't be paying for large tax breaks for well-connected landowners with a hobby of gardening.
