PA490 - Farm & Forest
Do you own Farmland or Forest Land?
In 1963, The Connecticut General Assembly enacted Public Act 63-490, an act concerning the taxation and preservation of farm, forest or open space, commonly referred to as “PA 490.”
Public Act 490 is Connecticut's law (Connecticut General Statutes Sections 12-107a through 107-f) that allows your farm, forest, or open space land to be assessed at its use value rather than its fair market or highest and best use value (as determined by the property's most recent "fair market value" revaluation) for purposes of local property taxation.
Public Act 490 is Connecticut’s Current-Use Tax Law for Farmland, Forest Land and Open Space Land–one of the most important laws to help preserve an agricultural, forest, and natural resource land base in Connecticut.
For more than 35 years Connecticut Farm Bureau Association has published a “PA 490 Guide,” a practical guide that provides an overview of PA 490 for landowners, assessors, government officials, and others wanting to understand how this law is applied. Click here to order a copy through CFBA.
- Farm Land Application
- Forest Land Application
- Lebanon does not offer Open Space
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: Does the penalty period begin again upon an excepted transfer?
A: Public Act 14-33 clarifies that the penalty period does not begin again.
Q: If a property is owned by more than one person, who signs the application for classification as farm and forest?
A: All owners must sign the application.
Q: If one or more of the owners die, do the survivors have to re-file?
A: Yes, when the property transfers to the heirs, they must file an updated application.
Q: Are Trusts and LLC’s considered excepted transfers (individual owner(s) to an LLC)?
A: Yes, principals of the trusts must be exactly the same original owners.
Q: A tract of forest land held in one name and comprised of several parcels. The owner transfers several parcels to a trust or LLC leaving the required 25 acres in the original tract. Is a Certified Forester’s Report required?
A: Yes, any transfer of forest land that has not been certified by a Forester within ten years must have a Certified Forester’s Report submitted.
Q: Is there minimum acreage required for forest land classification?
A: Yes.
- One tract of land twenty-five acres or more contiguous acres, which may be in contiguous municipalities;
- Two or more tracts of land aggregating twenty-five acres or more in which no single component tract shall consist of less than ten acres, or;
- Any tract of land which is contiguous to a tract owned by the same owner and has been classified as forest land.
Q: Can forest land parcels be held in different names, i.e. John Smith on a parcel of 15 acres and John Q. Smith Jr. on a separate parcel of 10 acres?
A: No. the ownership must be identical. This is a requirement by the Forester’s regulations in order to certify the parcels.
Q: Is there a minimum acreage for a farm?
A: No, however, if there are zoning regulations in the municipality they cannot be overlooked.
Q: Is the land under agricultural outbuildings eligible for P.A. 490 value?
A: Yes. It is generally accepted that in order to operate a bona fide farm, buildings to house livestock, equipment, feed, silage, etc. are necessary.
Q: What is considered "woodland as part of the farm unit"?
A: It is generally accepted that non-farmable wooded land that is part of a bona fide farm can be considered eligible for farmland value if it is being used by the farmer for agriculture purposes. Non-farmable wooded land that is not associated with a farm, for example land leased to a farmer by an owner who is not a farmer is generally not eligible.