Joint Committee on Revenue hears support for amending Article 99 to remove 5‑acre limit on farmland tax treatment

At a public hearing of the Joint Committee on Revenue on April 22, 2025, committee members heard testimony in support of S.11 and H.71, legislation to amend Article 99 of the Massachusetts Constitution to remove the current five‑acre minimum that determines eligibility for agricultural and horticultural property tax treatment.

The change would allow parcels of any size that meet the statute’s farming criteria to be taxed at agricultural rates rather than commercial or residential rates. "Protecting and valuing agricultural land is so important that it's written in our state's constitution," said Senator Joseph R. Comerford Jr., who urged a favorable report on S.11/H.71 and described the bills as critical to sustaining farms…