Farmland owners expect higher tax assessments
Source: Newsday.com
July 14, 2007
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) _ Farmland owners in New York can expect an increase in property assessments with school tax bills in September due to a decrease in the state agriculture exemption, assessors said.
The state sets the farmland tax exemption each year. For 2007, the tax break was to drop by 34 percent, but the Legislature stepped in and limited it to a maximum of 10 percent, said Carol Holley, Saratoga County Real Property Tax Service director. That county has 822 parcels affected, she said.
Dennis Egelston, a farmer in Glen, Montgomery County, said it would "sting a little" with county taxes next year, but they'll get most of their school taxes back when they file income taxes in January under the School Tax Relief program. Egelston said he owns about 300 acres of agricultural land and rents another 250 acres.
"I may see higher rent because of the drop in the exemption because the people I rent from cant get their school taxes back like I can," Egelston told the Schenectady Gazette. "The farmers who own 1,000 acres or more will have more to complain about with the drop in the exemption."
The exemption calculation is based on a number of factors including information from the federal Department of Agriculture, Holley said. According to the New York Farm Bureau, farm financial data over eight years is used in the calculation.
Saratoga Town Assessor Catherine DeFelice said she had to revise her numbers after the Legislature acted last month. The town has 187 parcels with an agricultural exemption out of 3,048 total parcels.
"The change affects every property owner," she said. "If farmers are paying more, the rest of us are paying less, but the farmers really do need the help."
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