Why under active timber management receive a 40% does “open space” not assessment reduction under the of option? “Time Harvest” DEC recognizes that protected open space provides value to society, albeit in a different way than the production of quality timber products. The open space aspect of of “Time Harvest” guarantees protection of many acres that are not eligible under the current program poor timber growing sites, inoperable sites). In 1974 when the current program was developed, the only interest involved in its development were foresters and the forest products industry. Today, we recognize that values have expanded and many more interest groups and types of forest owners claim an interest in private forests. The proposed conserving our state’s of option seeks to recognize these value shifts and provides a compromise for “Time Harvest” those that want to practice forest management and provide open space protection at the same time. I have 220 acres enrolled in the current program and on the I’ve always relied 80% assessment reduction currently available to help pay my property taxes. to reduce this benefit to 40% under the of It doesn’t seem fair “Time Harvest” this cause me to lose half my current tax savings? option. Won’t In most cases, the answer is no. Many current enrollees do not actually save 80% in annual property tax payments under the current program. Because of required expenses such as the initial forest management plan, five year updates, non-commercial TSI and thinnings, boundary line marking and the 6% stumpage tax, many landowners average somewhere around a 40-60% actual annual savings on their tax bill. Under the proposed program, required expenses are limited to just the cost of a harvest plan and no stumpage tax is required. In addition, the “Time of option makes certain acres eligible for the 40% assessment reduction that would Harvest” otherwise receive no assessment reduction under the current program. What is the criteria for approved forest under the forest “DEC certification” certification option and what certification systems currently available would be eligible? In order to be eligible a forest certification system must require an annual third party audit at the ownership level and provide an annual audit report to enrollees that provides an indication of performance within the program. Currently, only individual enrollments in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) would meet the criteria for eligibility.
Why does “open space” not under active timber management receive a 40% assessment reduction under the “Time of Harvest” option? DEC recognizes that protected open space provides value to society, albeit in a different way than the production of quality timber products. The open space aspect of “Time of Harvest” guarantees protection of many acres that are not eligible under the current program poor timber growing sites, inoperable sites). In 1974 when the current program was developed, the only interest involved in its development were foresters and the forest products industry. Today, we recognize that values have expanded and many more interest groups and types of forest owners claim an interest in conserving our state’s private forests. The proposed “Time of Harvest” option seeks to recognize these value shifts and provides a compromise for those that want to practice forest management and provide open space protection at the same time. I have 220 acres enrolled in the current program and I’ve always relied on the 80% assessment reduction currently available to help pay my property taxes. It doesn’t seem fair to reduce this benefit to 40% under the “Time of Harvest” option. Won’t this cause me to lose half my current tax savings? In most cases, the answer is no. Many current enrollees do not actually save 80% in annual property tax payments under the current program. Because of required expenses such as the initial forest management plan, five year updates, non-commercial TSI and thinnings, boundary line marking and the 6% stumpage tax, many landowners average somewhere around a 40-60% actual annual savings on their tax bill. Under the proposed program, required expenses are limited to just the cost of a harvest plan and no stumpage tax is required. In addition, the “Time of Harvest” option makes certain acres eligible for the 40% assessment reduction that would otherwise receive no assessment reduction under the current program. What is the criteria for “DEC approved forest certification” under the forest certification option and what certification systems currently available would be eligible? In order to be eligible a forest certification system must require an annual third party audit at the ownership level and provide an annual audit report to enrollees that provides an indication of performance within the program. Currently, only individual enrollments in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) would meet the criteria for eligibility.
480aRevision-FAQs.docx