Bill > H2497

This bill makes several technical adjustments to laws concerning the taxation of forest, farm, and recreation land, primarily by clarifying deadlines and modifying rules around "roll-back taxes," which are taxes that can be imposed if land previously taxed under special agricultural, forest, or recreational classifications is later converted to other uses. Specifically, it changes the wording for deadlines from "prior to" to "not later than" in one section, clarifies that the tax list for assessors regarding this special land classification should mirror the details for other taxable properties, and introduces an exception to roll-back taxes if land is acquired for natural resource purposes by a government entity or a non-profit conservation organization, though roll-back taxes would still apply if such land is resold for commercial, residential, or industrial use within five years of acquisition by a non-profit. Additionally, the bill corrects references to "forest certification" to instead refer to "agricultural or horticultural use" in one instance and "recreational use" in another, and adjusts timeframes for certain tax appeal and abatement procedures, reducing a sixty-day period to 30 days and a ten-year period to 5 years in specific contexts.