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Bill H.273 would lower farmer income threshold, add equines to use‑value eligibility and cut land‑use change tax penalty
Summary
Committee review of H.273 would change definitions and eligibility in the state's use‑value program: reduce the farmer income threshold from 50% to 25%, allow raising/management of equines to qualify, lower the land‑use change tax penalty from 10% to 6%, and create a higher tax rate for enrolled land that is posted against hunting and fishing.
A bill under review would amend the state's current‑use (use‑value) program to expand which land and people qualify for a lower property tax rate and to reduce the penalty charged when enrolled land is converted to other uses.
Mike, a staff member, told the committee that H.273 changes two core definitions: who counts as a "farmer" and what counts as "agricultural land." "We need to look at what the definition of agricultural land is," he said, then summarized current rules requiring use for hay, cultivated crops, pasture, livestock, fruit trees or maple production and the existing income tests and acreage thresholds.
The bill would lower the minimum share of an individual's income that must come from farming from 50% to 25% and add a new path so that someone who "earns at least 25% of the…
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