Farm and Forest Classification

The State of Connecticut’s General Statutes (12-107a) states that it is in the public interest to encourage the preservation of farm land, forest land and open space land in order to maintain a readily available source of food and farm products close to the metropolitan areas of the state, to conserve the states natural resources and to provide for the welfare and happiness of the inhabitants of the state and that it is in the public interest to prevent the forced conversion of farm land, forest land and open space to more intensive uses as the result of economic pressures caused by the assessment thereof for purposes of property taxation at values incompatible with their preservation as such farm land, forest land and open space. In 1963 the Public Act 490 was enacted to allow assessment on farm, forest, or open space land to be based on its current use rather than market value. Sterling offers such for land classified as either farm and/or forest land.

 

Forest

Pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes 12-107b Subdivision (2) Forest Land is defined as “any tract or tracts of land aggregating twenty five acres or more in area bearing tree growth that conforms to the forest stocking, distribution and condition standards established by the State Forester.

It must consist of one tract of land of twenty five or more contiguous acres, which may be in contiguous municipalities; two or more tracts of land in which no single component tract of land shall consist of less than 10 acres, or any tract of land which is contiguous to a tract owned by the same owner and has been classified as forest land pursuant to this section.”

 

The application is a two step process. First, forest land must be designated as such by a Connecticut State Forester (to obtain a list of Connecticut State Foresters please go to http://www.caao.com/). Once the State Forester has made a determination a report must be issued to the landowner including a description of the land, the forest growth upon the land and a description of forest management activities recommended to be undertaken to maintain the land in proper forest condition. Once this report is issued, the landowner must apply to the assessor to have it classified as forest land for assessment and taxation purposes. Applications may be obtained in the Assessor’s Office. The Form M-39 must be completed and signed by all owners of record and accompanied by the Certified State Forester’s report. It must be returned to the Assessor’s office by October 31^st of that year to be applied on the grand list.

 

Farm

Connecticut General Statues, Rev.1958;Title 1, Chapter 1, Sec 1-1 (q) states:

Except as otherwise specifically defined, the words “agriculture” and “farming” shall include cultivation of the soil, dairying, forestry, raising, or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training and management of livestock, including horses, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals and wildlife; the operation, management, conservation, improvement or maintenance of a farm and its buildings, tools and equipment, or salvaging timber or cleared land or brush or other debris left by a storm, as an incident to such farming operations; the production or harvesting of maple syrup or maple sugar, or any agricultural commodity, including lumber, as an incident to ordinary farming operations or the harvesting of mushrooms, the hatching of poultry, or the construction, operation, or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs or waterways used exclusively for farming purposes; handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, storing or delivering to storage or to market, or to a carrier for transportation to market, or for direct sale any agricultural or horticultural commodity as an incident to ordinary farming operations, or, in the case of fruits and vegetables, as an incident to the preparation of such fruits or vegetables for market or for direct sale. The term “farm” includes farm buildings, and accessory buildings thereto, nurseries, orchards, ranges, greenhouses or other structures used primarily for the raising and, as an incident to ordinary farming operations, the sale of agricultural or horticultural commodities. Nothing herein shall restrict the power of local zoning authorities under chapter 124.

 

There are several factors taken into consideration in the determination of farm land including the acreage of land under application, portion of land in actual farming use, the productivity of land, gross income, the nature and value of equipment used on the farm, and the extent to which the tracts compromising the land are contiguous.

 

Application for the farm program may be obtained from the assessor’s office. It must be accompanied by a sketch of the property detailing the farm and the number of acres in each land classification and their location.

 

Land Classification:

 

Tillable A:

Excellent (Shade Tobacco and Ball and Burlap Nursery, Crop Land)

Tillable B:

Very Good (Binder Tobacco, Vegetable, Potatoes, Crop Land)

Tillable C:

Very Good, Quite Level (Corn Silage, Hay, Vegetables, Potatoes, Crop Land)

Tillable D:

Good to Fair, Moderate to Considerable Slopes (Hay, Corn Silage, Rotation Pasture, Crop Land)

Orchard:

Well Maintained Trees for the Purposes of Bearing Fruit

Permanent Pasture:

Grazing for Livestock, Not Tilled Land

Swamp, Ledge, Scrub

Forest/Woodland:

Forest Land, as designated in the State Forester’s Certificate/Woodland in a Farm Unit

 

Tillable A and B are rare outside of the Connecticut River Valley. Those municipalities are Bloomfield, Cromwell, East Granby, East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Glastonbury, Granby, Manchester, Portland, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Somers, South Windsor, Suffield, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor, Windsor Locks. Good, level land in Sterling is usually classified as Tillable C.

The Sterling Assessor's Office will be implementing the new 2005 Recommended Values from the Department of Agriculture for the
October 1, 2007 Grand List. Please refer to the following tables for how the values have changed from the 2000 Recommended Values.  

Recommended Values:

 

CATEGORY	2005 VALUES	2005 ASSESSMENTS	2000 VALUES	2000  ASSESSMENTS
Tillable C	445	310	400	280
Tillable D	335	230	320	224
Orchard	1100	770	1000	700
Permanent Pasture	165	120	240	168
Forest/ Woodland	190	130	160	112

 

These recommended values are determined by the Department of Agriculture and the Office of Policy and Management. New values are issued every five years.
   

Conveyance Tax

 

Connecticut General Statute 12-504a provides that any land classified as farm or forest land is subject to an additional conveyance tax if such land is sold, transferred, to a non-exempt person or entity or if it’s use changes, within a ten year period from either the date the property was acquired or from the date of its classification, whichever is earlier. Pursuant to 12-504e the additional conveyance tax is to be levied if an owner, within a period of ten years of acquiring title, changes the use of the land.

 

For More Information on the PA-490 Programs please call the Assessors Office at (860) 564-3030.