20— Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Mar. 16, 1974
Land Use Tax BUI Meeting
(Continued from Page 1|
open space being lost to ur
banization at a rate of 1,000
square miles per year in the
U. S. and nearly 8,000 acres
in County each
year, there is an obvious
need to do something,
Williams commented.
The problem, he said, is
“that a farmer must sell his
farm to get his money out
and to realize a profit. And
when a farmer decides to sell
his land to the highest bid
der, it goes out of
agriculture. Farmers are
being outbid for land, and
many farmers figure they
can’t afford to farm.” Noting
that the man with the most
land is the fanner, Williams
said, “Property taxes bear
no relation to his net in
come.” He added that
present state law compounds
the problem, because land
must be assessed at market
value.
One of the main questions
about House Bill 1056, ac
cording to Williams, is “Who
will pick up the tax bill if
: armers are given a special
assessment?” Using Nor
thampton County as an
example - where a limited
[and use assessment
program has already locked
115 square miles of land into
agriculture for ten years -
Williams said it is estimated
that total tax bill will
increase only 2 cents on each
$l,OOO. “On my house in
Camp Hill that would cost
me 16 cents. I‘m for it,” he
says.
State Representatives
Reno H. Thomas and Kent
Shelhamer shared the
platform in explaining
considerations given by
members of the Agriculture
Committee as they began
work to implement the new
constitutional amendment
voted by the people in the
May primary.
Shelhamer, a fruit grower
:rom Columbia County and
minority chairman of the
House Agriculture Com
mittee, spoke on what he
called the two most con
troversial areas of the bill -
the roll back clause
and the split off provision."
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the rollback clause
designates “the amount of
money required if land use is
changed or land taken out of
the program.” He says that a
dual bookkeeping system
would be employed - one
showing the taxes which
would have been paid under
the current system of
taxation, and one which
showing the taxes actually
paid under the assessment
according to use. Shelhamer
called this part of the bill
protection for other lan
downers and tax payers,
adding that five years is a
compromise proposal.
Under questioning,
Shelhamer stressed that the
roll back taxes are due only
when the land use is
changed.
Another contested area of
the bill is the splitoff
provision, allowing farmers
to use parcels of their land
for building lots. Shelhamer
called this the “keystone of
the whole thing.” According
to the bill, farmers may split
off small parcels of land,
paying roll back taxes only
on that portion and allowing
the remainder to stay in the
program.
Thomas, Vice-Chairman of
the House Agriculture
Committee and a Master
Farmer from Snyder
County, said the intent of the
committee was “to keep the
bill as simple as we could.
We 'tried to keep all the
bureaucracy out of it and
tried to give it right back to
local control.”
He added that 80 percent of
the Commonwealth has not
been affected by the problem
of urban sprawl. But it is for
the twenty percent which
have a very serious problem,
that “we must have this bill
to give unmediate relief.”
He added, “The bill is built in
protection so it won’t happen
to the other 30 percent.” He
said, “We just can’t build
over Pennsylvania - it is
really important to the cities
that we have open space for
clean air.”
In discussing the
mechanics of applying for
special assessment, Thomas
said, “After you apply, the
m\i
with an
Gap, Penn. 17527
local county board of
assessment makes the
decision as to whether you
qualify for special land use
assessment. In most
counties today you couldn’t
qualify because you first
must show there is abuse of
taxation, and if there is no
abuse there will be no special
assessments.”
He said, “We want this to
be a voluntary program with
real incentive so people will
want to make an in
vestment.”
Criticism of the bill came
on two points from the other
two panelists. County Ad
ministrator Benjamin F.
Weaver took strong ex
ception to the portion of the
bill which exempts land from
roll back taxes in the case of
disability or death. When
questioned, he said he has no
quarrel with the necessity of
a disability clause, but feels
that if there is no roll back
for the estate, the land will
be held and sold at an ad
vantage as part of the set
tlement.
J. - Arthur Rohrer,
speaking both as a township
supervisor and as a farmer,
said his main objection is
with the five year roll back.
“Almost every farmer I
talked to objected to the roll
back.” Rohrer is also a
member of the Lancaster
County Planning Com
mission.
Rohrer added that
although the State
Association of Township
Supervisors opposes the
proposal because of the loss
of tax base, most “local
supervisors do not object at
all. Taxes are relatively low
in this county, and we don’t
feel there is any real concern
with the tax base.”
Rohrer said in speaking
with farmers in preparation
for his part on the panel, “I
was quite surprised because
I didn’t get the reaction I
expected. Many didn’t feel
concerned about the bill.”
“Mostly we were more
concerned with alternatives
or changes in existing laws.”
He said the concensus of
those he spoke with was that
the bill “won’t help many of
our local fanners, therefore,
let’s ask the legislature to
pass a law asking local
municipalities to add an
extra 1 percent earned in
come tax.” He also
suggested a “break on in
vestment income” and a
change in the tax laws which
would allow a farmer to pay
taxes on land he is selling at
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Panelists for Wednesday night’s
educational forum on land use tax
assessment listen while panel
moderator Robert Williams lays the
groundwork for the evening’s
discussion. The meeting was held at
the Lancaster Farm and Home
Center. Williams is associate editor of
the value from the 1970
assessment when the state
income tax was instituted
instead of from the price of
the original land. Adding
that he feels there is a need
to help young fanners get
started, he said a big con
cern is that under federal
income tax law “I can’t sell
my farm to my son at any
price I want.” He added that
it must be appraised and any
difference in the selling price
must be paid in gift taxes.
Aside from Weaver’s
criticism, he said he felt it
was obvious from the
overwhelming yes vote on
the constitutional amend
ment that the people wanted
something to be done on the
land use assessment
question. He said, “Property
tax is bearing an unfair
share of the tax burden and*
the ability to pay should be
the main criteria in paying
taxes.”
He said it is his opinion
that land was never intended
to bear the major burden of
taxes, especially with the
increased social programs of
today. He said, “Farmland
is extremely important, and
the Commissioners are
receptive to the problem. He
added, “Environmentalists,
social development people
and builders must all have
their say in developing a
comprehensive plan. We’re
growing and people have to
go somewhere.”
Weaver added that the
three year roll back period in
New Jersey’s land use bill is
“probably too short,” and
the five year period is “more
realistic.”
In the question period.
Weaver noted that Lancaster
County Commissioners are
f.
planning for reassessment
this year and are currently
in the process of hiring
someone to do the job. With
115,000 properties which
must be Visited he said the
new assessments would
probably not be on the rolls
until 1976.
Rep. Thomas said it is his
opinion that some sort of
“advisory committee” will
probably be called for to
assist local boards in the
final version of the bill.
Rep. Shelhamer said he
would like to predict that the
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2
I
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Panelists, left to right, were Reno
Thomas and Kent Shelhamer, both
members of the state House and of
the House Agriculture Committee,
Benjamin Weaver, Lancaster County
administrator, and J. Arthur Rohrer, a
Lancaster County farmer.
bill could be passed by May,
but added that “for the first
time Pennsylvania
agriculture is not of one
mind,” with the Penn
sylvania Farmers
Association and Grange
going separate ways. He
added that if the bill is not
passed before the May
primary it will be a problem
of “politics, politics,
politics.”
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