New York

Property Classification:

For property tax purposes New York classifies land as either homestead or non-homestead property and is taxed at 100% of full value.

Forest Land Certified before September 1, 1974 (RPTL Section 480)

Ownership Requirements: Property must be owned by a private organization or individual.

Property Location Requirements: None.

Property Use Requirements: Property must have been certified as an eligible tract by DEC. An eligible tract is defined as forest land of at least 15 acres:

(a) which has been planted with an average of not less than 800 trees per acre,

(b) which has been under-planted with an average of not less than 300 trees per acre,

(c) upon which the majority of the mature timber has been removed in such a manner as to ensure a crop of saleable timber or pulpwood, or

(d) upon which, at the time of classification as an eligible tract, there is an immature stand sufficient to produce such a crop within 30 years.

Certification by State or Local Government: Tracts receiving this exemption must have been issued a certificate of approval from DEC prior to September 1, 1974.

Valuation and Assessment: (Sec. 480)

Assessed value of taxable portion of property (land and any buildings or other structures) may not exceed:

(1) the value of similar lands without substantial forest growth that are located in the same assessing unit, and

(2) the value fixed at the time of application for exemption under this statute.

However, the assessed value may be increased or decreased to reflect a change in the level of assessment of all other property on any assessment roll prepared after the forest property's limited assessment was determined as described above.

If a watershed conservation easement (pursuant to 49 ECL) is purchased by New York City on a parcel having this exemption, the exemption on the underlying fee interest is adjusted in the same proportion as the "allocation factor," as determined by the City's independent appraisal. (The allocation factor is defined as the portion of the value of each parcel (less improvements) which the easement represents, expressed as a percentage).

Yield Tax

Payment of a yield tax of 6% of the stumpage value of the timber, as determined by the assessor, is required in each of the following situations:

When any forest growth is cut, payment of the tax must be made prior to removal of the timber from the premises. (The following are exempt from the yield tax: (a) wood or timber cut annually for the owner's own use that has a total stumpage value of $25 or less and (b) thinnings made with the approval of DEC for the purpose of improving forest growth.)

When no forest growth is cut but, as determined by DEC, the tract contains on the average 40,000 board feet of saleable soft wood per acre or 20,000 board feet of saleable hard wood per acre (or, where there is a mixture of the two kinds of wood, the relative percentages of such amounts). In this case, if none of the timber is cut within two years of the DEC determination, the yield tax becomes payable at the end of the two-year period, and at that time the tract becomes ineligible for exemption and limited assessment under RPTL Sec. 480.

When an owner voluntarily withdraws from the program and does not become eligible for the forest taxation program authorized by RPTL Sec. 480-a.

Forest Land Certified on or after September 1, 1974 (RPTL Section 480-a)

A partial exemption is provided for eligible tracts of forest land.

Eligible tract - means a tract of privately owned forest land of at least fifty contiguous acres, exclusive of any portion thereof not devoted to the production of forest crops. Lands divided by federal, state, county or town roads, easements or rights-of-way, or energy transmission corridors or similar facilities will be considered contiguous for purposes of this section, unless vehicular access for forest management purposes is precluded. Lands from which a merchantable forest crop has been cut or removed within three years prior to the time of application for certification under this section will be ineligible unless such cutting or removal was accomplished under a forest management program designed to provide for the continuing production of merchantable forest crops.

Forest land - means land exclusively devoted to and suitable for forest crop production through natural regeneration or through forestation and shall be stocked with a stand of forest trees sufficient to produce a merchantable forest crop within thirty years of the time of original certification.

Merchantable forest crop - means timber or pulpwood, including veneer bolts, saw-logs, poles, posts and fuelwood, that is produced on forest land, has a value in the market and may be sold

Eligibility- To be eligible for this partial exemption a privately owned tract of forest land must be certified by the Department of Environmental Conservation, this is done by filling an application with the department along with a management plan for approval.

An approved management plan means a plan approved by the department for the management of an eligible tract which shall contain requirements and standards to ensure the continuing production of a merchantable forest crop selected by the owner. Every approved management plan shall set forth requirements and standards relating to stocking, cutting, forest management access, and any specified use of the eligible tract other than for the production of a merchantable forest crop which is desired by the owner and compatible with or supportive of the continuing production of a merchantable forest crop. Such plan shall include provisions accommodating endangered and threatened animals and plants. Such plan must be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a forester who may be the owner or an agent of the owner, including an industrial forester or a cooperating consultant forester.

Application - To qualify for this partial exemption the owner of the eligible tract must file the certificate of approval in the office of the clerk of the county and with the assessor. Such certificate shall specify that the tract described therein is committed to continued forest crop production for an initial period of ten years.

In each subsequent year the owner must file another ten-year commitment to retain the exemption

Valuation and Assessment: (Sec 480-a)

Certified eligible tracts are exempt to the extent of 80% of the assessed valuation or to the extent that the assessed valuation exceeds the amount resulting from multiplying the latest state equalization rate or special equalization rate for the taxing jurisdiction by $40 per acre, whichever is less.

Example: (Please note that the equalization rates can vary significantly from town to town which can result in widely different tax liabilities.)

1. Multiply the assessment per acre by 80%

Assume an assessment of $180.00 per acre: $180.00 x .80 = $144.00

2. Multiply the equalization rate for your town by $40.00 and subtract that from the assessment per acre.

Assume local equalization rate of 65%:

$40.00 x .65 = $26.00

$180.00 - $26.00 = $154.00

3. Take the lesser of the two from step one or step two and subtract that from the assessment per acre.

$180.00 - $144.00 = $36.00 per acre

Roll-back taxes - Roll-back taxes and penalties apply if the Department determines that there has been a violation of the forest land exemption requirements. The penalty amount is equal to 2 1/2 times the amount of taxes that would have been levied on the forest land exemption for the current year and for many prior years in which an exemption was granted, limited to a total of ten years, plus interest charges. If only a portion of the tract has been converted, the penalty is doubled, but is calculated on only the portion of the tract that is converted.

The severance tax is 6% of the stumpage value (Sec 480-a).

Whenever any cutting of the merchantable forest crop on any certified eligible tract is proposed during the 10-year commitment the owner shall give not less than thirty days' notice to the department in a manner and upon such form as may be prescribed by the department.

Such notice shall include information as to the stumpage value, amount and location of such cutting. The department shall, within fifteen days after receipt of such notice from the owner, certify the stumpage value, if any, to the owner and to the county treasurer of the county or counties in which the tract is situated. No later than thirty days after receipt of such certification of value, the owner shall pay a 6% tax on the certified stumpage value of the merchantable forest crop to such county treasurer.

If the stumpage value of a merchantable forest crop will be determined with reference to a scale to be conducted after the commencement of the proposed cutting, the owner may elect to be taxed in accordance with this paragraph. Such election shall be made not less than thirty days in advance of commencement of the cutting, in such manner and upon such form as may be prescribed by the department.

Such notice shall include information as to the estimated volume, scaling method, and the schedule and length of the cutting period, not to exceed one year. If a proper election has been made in accordance with this paragraph, the department shall so notify the owner before any cutting takes place on the eligible tract, and it shall certify the scaled stumpage value to the owner of the tract and to the county treasurer of the county or counties when the cutting has concluded. No later than thirty days after the receipt of such certification of value, the owner shall pay a 6% tax on the stumpage value of the merchantable forest crop to such county treasurer.

• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. 480-a Forest Tax Law.