Summary
Financial incentives offered by state property tax programs are a means of promoting goods and services from private forestland. Comprehensive information about the variety of program arrangements used by other states can empower managers and policymakers to more wisely compare and possibly adopt programs for their home state, especially tax classifications, eligibility requirements, administrative procedures, management plan requirements, penalties for noncompliance, and the public and private organizations responsible for program implementation. Identified by a 50-state review, these property tax programs often require adherence to several conditions: valid ownership and use of forestland, correct size of parcel and suitable forest conditions, implementation of professionally prepared forest management plans, notifying authorities of intent to harvest timber, willingness to participate in reviews and inspections, and an understanding of potential financial or procedural penalties. Implementation of these administrative conditions may require the involvement of several agencies at many levels of government, most frequently offices of local governments with support from citizen advisory committees and boards, tax review appeals and equalization boards, forestry boards and commissions, forestry divisions within state natural resource departments, and state departments of finance and revenue.
