Bill Magee
Bill Magee
Bill Magee

Assemblyman Bill Magee (D-Nelson) announced that legislation he authored to protect land for agricultural use and save taxpayer dollars has been signed into law (Ch. 35 of 2016). The law streamlines the creation of agricultural districts and encourages the continued use of farmland for agricultural production.

“This law is a response to concerns we heard from farmers and local governments about inefficiencies in the current districting system,” said Magee. “Now, farmers will find it easier to continue to use their land to produce food and other agricultural goods, and they’ll also be able to take full advantage of the tax credits available to them.”

Magee’s legislation contains measures to forestall conversion of farmland to non-agricultural use and to cut down on inefficiencies in the current Agricultural Districts Law. Local governments and farmers will now have less red tape to contend with, and local assessors will receive training and assistance to properly assess farmland under the agriculture districts program. Farmland owners can qualify for lower assessments and property taxes as well as protections against overly restrictive local laws, government-funded acquisition or construction projects and private nuisance suits involving agricultural practices. These measures will also reduce taxpayer expense by removing extraneous reporting requirements.

In addition, the law clarifies some areas that were previously fuzzy, such as conflicting interpretations of existing laws over the eligibility for farm woodland to be considered for lower agricultural property assessments and questions over property tax exemptions on structures on farmland to make it clear that structures that are not permanent, such as temporary greenhouses or hops trellises, would also qualify for the tax exemptions.

“I will keep fighting to cut the red tape and ease the restrictions and tax burdens on farmers,” said Magee. “Supporting them ensures they can continue the hard work they do to feed our families and fuel our economy.”

By martha

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.