ACTION ALERT: Act Now to Fix Green Acres!

Critical Elements of this Minnesota Farm Program
Were Dismantled Last Legislative Session

2/5/09
What is Green Acres?
Green Acres allows the taxable value of farmland to be lowered when it is being driven up due to development pressures.  Farmers commit to keep the land in agricultural use and the land is taxed at a lower agricultural rate.    

What went wrong and how did it happen? 
Changes were made to the program during the 2008 session of the Minnesota Legislature with no meaningful input from farmers, and almost no opportunity for public input (see the LSP blog at www.looncommons.org/2008/11/14/gutting-green-acres for more details). The bill was not heard in the Senate or House Agriculture Committees. Here are some of the provisions that passed into law that are bad for preserving farmland and which work against promoting and maintaining conservation: 

• A distinction is created between “productive” and “non-productive” land, and so-called “non-productive” land is ineligible for Green Acres. This makes wooded acreage, wetlands and other parts of a working farm that are not tillable, but a necessary part of good stewardship, potentially ineligible. The distinction between “productive” and “non-productive” is antiquated thinking and is reminiscent of a “fencerow-to-fencerow” mentality.
• Farmland that is in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) or Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is ineligible for Green Acres.  This will discourage participation in these important conservation programs.
• A transfer—not a sale—of land triggers a payback of back taxes on so-called “non-productive” land.  That means a parent transferring a farm to a son or daughter may have to pay taxes even though they have no money coming in from the land transfer.

There is a remedy for this mistake
The 2009 Minnesota Legislature should repeal the 2008 changes made to Green Acres as soon as possible. After repeal, there needs to be hearings that allow for meaningful input from farmers, landowners and others affected by this legislation before any other changes are made. Minnesotans believe in open government. The changes made to Green Acres, even though they affect thousands of Minnesotans, were done with almost no opportunity for public input.

Act NOW!
We are asking that you make these calls as soon as possible:

• Sen. Lawrence Pogemiller, Senate Majority Leader, 651-296-7809, and Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Speaker of the House, 651-296-0171.
• Sen. Tom Bakk, Chair of the Senate Tax Committee, 651-296-8881, and Rep. Ann Lenczewski, Chair of the House Tax Committee, 651-296-4218.
• Contact your Senator and Representative. You can get the name and phone number of your state legislators by calling 800-657-3550 or 651-296-2146 for Representatives, and 888-234-1112 or 651-296-0504 for Senators.

Here is the message: “I am concerned about the changes made to the Green Acres program. These changes punish well-established conservation practices by suggesting that wetlands, woodlands and land in CRP, CREP and RIM cannot be in the program.  Farms operate as a whole. A well-run farm is more than the tillable acres. It includes the buffer strips, wetlands and wooded acres that make the farm environmentally sustainable. I want you to repeal the changes made last legislative session and for there to be hearings that allow for input from farmers and landowners before any other changes are made.”  

If you want to know more about the Land Stewardship Project’s work on this issue, or want to be kept informed of developments at the Capitol, call Bobby King at 612-722-6377. To download a fact sheet on the changes made to Green Acres, click here.