Posted by: Paul Catanzaro
on Feb 20, 2012
Keeping land in the family is a common goal for many landowners, but how do you actually pay for the long-term ownership and maintenance costs associated with the land?
Posted by: Paul Catanzaro
on Jan 29, 2007
- To encourage landowners to keep their land in forests and fields providing critical public benefit, the Commonwealth passed Chapters 61, 61A and 61B in 1973. The programs provide a means to assess land at a portion of its fair market value in an effort to ease the ever growing tax pressure on landowners.
For a number of years, efforts have been undertaken to improve these programs. On December 22nd, Governor Romney signed the Chapter 61 amendment bill into law. This new law helps increase the protection of open space and the support of sustainable forestry and farming by simplifying and making the three Chapter 61 programs more consistent. It is hoped that these changes will encourage additional forest and farm land to be enrolled in these programs.
Posted by: Paul Catanzaro
on Jun 1, 2006
Land in Massachusetts is taxed at its "full and fair market value". Most often this value is based on the land's ability to support residential development. Taxing land based on its development potential can put a burden on those landowners who wish to maintain their land in woodland, since the market value of the land, and the associated annual taxes, is usually greater than the short-term income received from growing trees. In addition, taxing land based on its full and fair market value does not take into consideration the many public values that woodlands provide communities, such as: clean water, community character and wildlife habitat.
