This is an Article from the Sunday Jan. 10th 2010 Barre Times Argus
| The economic viability of farms and forestland is tightly tied to Vermont’s current use law and many rural businesses rely on it, including maple syrup producers, log truckers, cheese makers, fire- wood processors and equipment retailers. At left, a farmer bales hay.
Brian Mohr / Ember Photography |
By JAKE BROWN Herald Correspondent - Published: January 10, 2010
Tight budgets will likely have lawmakers scrutinizing Vermont’s current use law this legislative session, with the hope of squeezing savings from it.
But there are a variety of views on whether, or even if, current use should be the target of budget-cutting scissors. The tax-equity law, created in 1978, taxes enrolled farm and forestland at its use value, and not its higher development value. It has been credited with helping Vermont retain its productive land base.
Some supporters of current use suggest there should be a moratorium on new enrollments of properties; others think lawmakers should simply leave the program alone. Still others contend that a few, targeted changes would not only save some money during these exceedingly difficult times, but also improve the law.
“Current use is a fundamental policy that underlies and helps sustain Vermont’s working landscape and rural character,” said Darby Bradley, former president of the Vermont Land Trust and current use expert. “Therefore, any changes the Legislature might consider should strengthen the law, not undermine it.”
Current use works like this: With some exceptions, owners of agricultural land and forestland of 25 acres or more can enroll in current use. If they meet certain criteria, those owners pay property taxes based on the “use” value of the land (as a cornfield or a woodlot, for example) and not on the development value of the land. In exchange for this use valuation, the farmers and forestland owners in the program agree to keep the land undeveloped and to manage it for agricultural and forestry products, forest health and wildlife interests. Today, three-quarters of Vermont’s farms are enrolled in the program and approximately one-half of Vermont’s eligible forestland is enrolled.
Vermont clearly has a unique identity that has been defined by centuries of agrarian traditions passed on from generation to generation. Current use is widely seen as having played a powerful role in maintaining and enhancing Vermont’s rural and agricultural heritage. A recent report issued by the Council on the Future of Vermont says that between 93 percent and 97 percent of Vermonters stated recently that they value the working landscape and its heritage.
Vermont’s fields and forests make up its natural infrastructure — different from roads and sewer lines, but just as essential to Vermont’s economy and way of life, said Jamey Fidel, forest program director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. “Like built infrastructure, natural infrastructure needs long-term maintenance, and this includes keeping current use intact,” he said.
“Current use helps assure that Vermont has a local, secure food supply, lumber for construction, home heat and clean water,” Fidel said. “Current use represents smart management of our natural capital — our fields and forests — over the long term.”
On the ground at a Bethel farmstead
Carl Russell, a Bethel forestland owner and farmer, slides heavy harnesses off the broad backs of his draft horses after a day hauling red pine out of the woods. He tosses hay bales out of the loft, and they land with a thud on the snow. The horses eat, and Russell talks about current use. He sees it as a policy that should be viewed broadly, in the context of its far-reaching benefit to the land-based economy in Vermont.
“Current use helps assure a constant stream of natural resources to the land-based economy, and it’s as much an economic incentive program as a tax program,” Russell said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s been characterized as a tax break,” he said. “That’s myopic, because it is enhancing our entire natural resource-based economy.”
Russell explains that the boost from the program flows into many corners of the economy.
Russell lives on property that’s been in his family since 1938. He has a forestry degree from the University of Vermont and is on the boards of Rural Vermont and the White River Partnership. He and his family milk cows, raise their own beef and pork and sell sawlogs off the property. Russell is a part-time consulting forester and his wife is an agricultural consultant.
“Current use creates stability in the natural resource-based economy,” he said. “It creates a stability that makes Vermont what it is.”
State Rep. Alison Clarkson, a Democrat from Woodstock, is also a strong proponent of the current use program and will be working to assure if there are changes, the program’s integrity is not violated.
“Without current use, Vermont would look like New Jersey,” she said. “One of the reasons Vermont is still so beautiful is because we’ve valued our working landscape and have a tax policy, current use, to protect and promote it. Current use has a huge economic impact on us. I understand it’s about $4 billion dollars. Farm and forestland in current use produce the milk we drink, the syrup, cheese and specialty foods, renewable energy and wood products we are so proud of,” Clarkson said. “They employ a large range of people from butchers to loggers, chefs to furniture-makers — all of whom pay taxes, buy houses, live in our communities, have children in our schools and volunteer in our towns.”
Clarkson said she will be working under the Golden Dome this session to assure that any changes to the current use law due to budget constraints do not compromise its central focus and long-term integrity.
Jake Brown is the communications director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council. He lives in Montpelier and can be reached at jbrown@vnrc.org.
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