Joint revenue committee hears support for amendment to let small parcels qualify as farmland for tax purposes

At a joint hearing of the Massachusetts General Court’s Joint Committee on Revenue, House Chair Adrian Madrow and Senate Co‑Chair Sen. Jamie Eldridge heard testimony supporting S.11 and H.71, constitutional amendments to Article 99 that would end a five‑acre minimum for farmland tax treatment and allow parcels of any size used for agricultural or horticultural purposes to be taxed at agricultural rates.

The amendment matters, testifiers said, because Massachusetts is losing farmland and small or urban farms are disproportionately affected. “Article 99 has an archaic limitation. Only farms of five acres or more are eligible for this tax treatment,” said Senator Commerford, who testified remotely in support of S.11 and H.71. “We found that Massachusetts lost 27,000 acres of farmland in the last five‑year agricultural census. We cannot afford to lose more.”

The amendment would alter how municipal tax…