The Farm Land Tax
(Continued From Page 12)
any tax program does things that
are difficult to anticipate. Our
third consideration is whether
there will be any undesirable
“side effects.”
Consider, for example, the goal
of keeping open space. Open
space has different meanings in
different situations. It may mean
farms, recreational areas, parks,
golf courses, and similar land
uses. Open space may be a tool
for forcing expansion into certain
MALORAN.
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• Besides velvetleaf, Maloran gives effective control of smartweed, lambs
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And since you’re handling more acres today, with probably no more help,
this is the kind of control you need.
There’s more information you’ll want and should have about Maloran-
Lasso. So you 11 know how it will fit your soils, weed and grass infestations,
and your farming practices. Talk to your supplier.
Agricultural Division, CIBA-GEIGY Corporation, Ardsley, N.Y. 10502.
patterns and densities or it may
be areas, such as marshes, which
have a particularly valuable
ecological role.
If the goal is recreation,
perhaps the tax preference
should be confined to recreation
areas. If the goal is channeling
urban development, then it may
make sense to offer tax
preferences to owners of land in
those areas where we do not want
New for soybeans.
urban development, if they agree
not to permit such development.
If we want to preserve land with
particular ecological values, we
might offer special tax con
cessions to the owners of the land,
conditioned on the owners
keeping the land in uses which
are consistent with its ecological
role.
The effects of differential
assessment laws on land use are
hard to predict. People own land
for a large variety of reasons;
some of these reasons are more
sensitive to tax costs than others.
For example, if all the owners of
farms in this state were studied,
you would find some for whom
fanning was a way of life, some
in farming to make money who
will stay only as long as they can
make a profit, others who are in
farming primarily because of
income tax advantages, and still
others who are mainly interested
in speculating in land and will sell
to the first buyer who offers the
right price. Each of these groups
will probably react differently to
a change in property taxes. For
exxample, if the land you want to
keep in farm use is primarily in
the hands of speculators, a
change in the property tax is not
likely to affect their decision.
Another factor involved is the
Lasso* is a trademark of Monsanto Company.
value of the land for alternative
uses. If the land is nearly as
valuable in farming as for other
uses, offers from potential non
farm users will be at com
paratively small premiums over
farm values, and differential
assessment may have an effect.
But if that land would provide
substantial profits in another use,
the offers for it will be higher.
Tax reduction may not loom very
large in a land-owner's thinking
when the offer is everal times the
value of the land for farming.
Social equity is one of the
usually advanced for
differential assessment.
Proponents argue that dif
ferential assessment is needed
because farm incomes are low in
relation to the property taxes
levied on farmers. Hence, it is
said, property tax levies are out
of proportion to farmers’ ability
to pay.
This view, like most, has
several sides. It is difficult to
define ability to pay taxes. Some
people would say, though, that an
individual’s wealth also affects
his ability to pay. Some farmers
own valuable land on the rural
urban fringes, and this wealth
should be taken into account
when costs of government are
distributed among citizens.
Furthermore, other citizens on
the rural-urban fringe pay taxes
out of proportion to their in
CIBA-GEIGY
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 21.1973
Differential assessment often
is justified, too, on the grounds
that the fanner pays property
taxes entirely out of proportion to
the benefits he receives from
local government. Opponents say
that this is true of many other
groups of suburban residents,
and that lowering the farmers’
taxes will only compound the
problems of some of the other
residents. Some people will go a
step further, and say that the
property tax correlates too
poorly with ability to pay and
with benefits received, that it
should be replaced entirely or
greatly de-emphasized as a
source of local finance -
especially for schools.
Whether differential
assessment is more equitable
than other forms of assessment
involves individual value
judgments.
Attitudes about taxes differ
among individuals. Given the
same information, analyses, and
scientific conclusions, in
dividuals arrive at different
conclusions with regard to which .
tax policies are desirable.
I I
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conies. If farmers’ taxes are
lowered, it will be necessary to
raise taxes on others in order to
provide the same revenue. This
will tend to intensify the dif
ferences among other taxpayers
in the same school district and
local government taxing unit.
Some say that the farmer’s
lack of income is partly an
illusion. He often lacks cash
income, but his net worth often
has gone up substantially each
year as a result of rising land
prices.
BUTLER^
MBUsmSS
Continuous Flow
Grain Dryer
Choose from 5 models to
match your harvest rate.
Capacities vary, by model,
from 183 to 43S bushels
per hour.
FARMILL
CONSTRUCTION
and REPAIR
Soudersburg, Pa.
Ph. 717-687-7659
21