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Nornes working to fix Green Acres legislation
Published Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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Rep. Bud Nornes speaks from the legislative floor.
Rep. Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls) is among the Minnesota lawmakers hoping to reverse last-minute changes to the state’s Green Acres program.
Legislation passed in the final hours of the 2008 session made several changes to the long-standing program, which reduces property taxes for certain farmland. Under the new legislation, sloughs, wetlands and other non-productive acres do not qualify for Green Acres tax deferments. Also, those people who choose to sell non-productive Green Acres land must pay seven years worth of back taxes on it, up from three years-worth.
Nornes says the new Green Acres legislation never went through agriculture committee members. Instead it slipped under the radar and passed as part of the omnibus tax bill.
“It was one of those things that people didn’t really notice and that’s why we’re trying to change it now,” Nornes said.
Nornes plans to co-author a bill led by Rep. Rob Eastlund (R-Isanti) that would repeal the 2008 changes. He says he’d also like to do away with all of the look-back provisions, including the three-year paybacks.
Eastlund is the chief author of the bill to restore Green Acres.
The bill, a bipartisan effort, will be ready for introduction by the first day of the 2009 session, Nornes says.
At the very least, Nornes said he would like people who participated in Green Acres before the changes grandfathered into the old system.
Constituents voiced concerns about the new Green Acres legislation in the months leading up to last week’s election, he said
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by goingfishing (anonymous) on November 11, 2008 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Frankly speaking, there should be no payback if proprerty under Green Acres is sold. The whole purpose of Green Acres is to bring the taxes more in line with what they should be if there was no lake on the property. The County has just simply put artificial values on farms that have lake access in order to bring more revenue to the County. That has to stop. Please, Mr. Nornes, keep up the work and get it changed to being proper and fair to the farm owner.
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