Pay less taxes: Going real…Clean and Green

Disclaimer: I am neither an attorney nor a tax advisor. This post is for informational purposes only and the information contained within can vary across regions.

I moved to the city from my parent’s farm when I was  four years old. I was a kid back then and besides from my Barbie Dreamhouse, why would I give a moment’s thought to taxes? I don’t remember much about farm living only that my brother came running out of a shed door yelling as he got into a few bees and one nailed him in the eye. I also remember (now just remember I was only four) scooping up my kittens and putting them in the pig’s trough so they could go swimming. I also remember being put on the back of a horse. My mother started yelling “hold on” and I grabbed the horn…

The horse took off but I wasn’t scared – I didn’t know that I should have been. It did make me appreciate as I was sitting on top of that extremely tall horse, how small I really was.

A few years ago I bought a Tiny House and 10+ acres of land. I didn’t spend much money. The tiny house has a 6 year mortgage and the land will be paid off in 15 years. Sounds like a good time to ready myself for retirement.

How wonderful it was to be young – you didn’t worry about taxes, mortgage payments, or retirement.

-Me 🙂

When to be scared:

When I bought the land the attorney asked if we were going “Clean and Green”. I thought I knew some things about it but found out…. I knew nothing. What scared me was buying land, paying the taxes, and not accounting for what money would be left in my budget for retirement. If I enroll what stipulations are they going to put on MY land that I have to follow? Just like when I was a kid, I just had to hold on… Life for me just got real.

The Clean and Green Program in PA:

So we head over to the County Tax Assessment Office. The woman behind the counter was very nice but was not extremely helpful. The sign on the desk states that they are not attorneys and can not answer legal questions, so I didn’t ask. I completed the easy paperwork: “Yes I own 10+ acres”, I guessed how much was field and how much was wooded, paid my $18, then came straight home to do research (talk about putting the cart before the horse).

I found out that the State of Pennsylvania implemented this program in the 1970’s. This arose from the financial difficulty of farmers who would sell off pieces of their land to developers to generate income. It was a way for farmers to keep their land and to save on their property taxes as long as they devoted their lands to one of 3 land type uses under the Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act (Act 319) .

My understanding of “Clean and Green: meant I couldn’t build on the land, couldn’t have a home business, and I had to do with it what the ‘government’ told me I had to – but I was wrong… really wrong. Here’s how….

Clean and Green advantages:

There are 3 land type uses under Clean and Green:

• Agricultural Use,
• Agricultural Reserve, and
• Forest Reserve.

Agricultural Use

According to the PA Department of Agriculture, ‘Agricultural Use’ is land of 10+ acres devoted to farming (or less than 10 acres if it produces over $2000 annual income) or land used for soil conservation (yes, you can do nothing with it and call it conservation).

Agricultural Reserve

This land type is 10 or more acres, noncommercial, recreational, and open to the public. This land type is the only type that must be available to the public for use (however the land owner can place restrictions such as “no motor vehicles”, and “no dusk to dawn access”).

Forest Reserve

This land type is 10 or more wooded acres capable of producing timber.

Tax Break Assessment

Land owners in the Clean and Green program are assessed only at the use value of the land (soil capability) rather than the land’s true market value. Accounting for the ability to produce corn or other crops by soil capability (by county) or the income from timbering trees, taxes are leveraged much lower than those land owners who do not enroll in the program. 

Additionally, farmers may split or section off pieces of their land so long as it does not exceed 2 acres per year and then only those acres are subject to past taxes. Also they may operate a home business (such as selling produce, home baked pies, or quilts) providing that the area used for this business does not exceed 2 acres of the land.

Clean and Green Cons:

The disadvantage of this program is that should the owner sell off the land for sub-division to a land developer or change the conditions of the use of the land, the owner would be subject to past taxes for 7 years plus 6% interest (ouch). This option could prove to be extremely expensive so an attorney should be sought to offer advice in this transition.

What does this mean for us?:

When land owners devote their land to agricultural use and can save money on their taxes each year, that means lower prices for milk and dairy, eggs, meat, wool and so forth for the rest of us. Additionally the open space of Pennsylvania farms allows fresher air, less congestion, and the conservation of wildlife refuges for animals such as the Whitetail deer and many species of birds, bugs, and pollinator bees.

So although I put the cart before the horse and signed up “Clean and Green”, I think I made the right decision and feel comfortable about what I am doing for my wallet, my retirement, future generations, and for the environment. This program wasn’t available to my parents back when I was a kid, but I can sit now in the open fields and watch the bees going from flower to flower, hearing the birds chirping in the trees, and still appreciate how small we are in a very large world. So…. hold on to some of your tax dollars. Let’s keep it real, let’s keep it open, keep it fresh, and importantly keep it Clean and Green.   

Take a breath and enjoy.

~Sue 🙂

If you are eligible and haven’t checked into this program please feel free to visit The PA Department of Agriculture for more information on ACT 319 or contact your County Tax Assessment Office for more information on the Clean and Green Program in your area. Another great resource is the PA Department of Agriculture’s Website.

Additionally, this program may be available in other states but not identified as a “Clean and Green Program”. Contact your County or State Government Officials for more information.

***Thank you to the Pa Department of Agriculture, and Erie County for publishing such great resources on the Clean and Green Program here in Pennsylvania.