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§44-27-4  Classification of forest land. –


Published: 2015

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TITLE 44

Taxation

CHAPTER 44-27

Taxation of Farm, Forest, and Open Space Land

SECTION 44-27-4



   § 44-27-4  Classification of forest land.

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(a) An owner of not less than ten (10) acres of forest land may file a written

application with the director of environmental management for its designation

by the director as forest land. When the application is made and a filing fee

of ten dollars ($10.00) is paid, the director shall examine the land and, if

the director determines that it is forest land, the director shall issue a

certificate in his or her office, furnish a copy to the owner of the land, and

file a copy in the office of the assessor of the city or town where the land is

located.



   (b)(1) When requested to do so by the assessor or whenever

the director deems it necessary, the director of environmental management shall

re-examine land designated by him or her as forest land. If the director finds

that the land is no longer forest land or if the director finds that the land

is not being managed in accordance with the forest management plan approved by

the director, he or she shall send a notice to the landowner that the landowner

has thirty (30) days either to bring the land into compliance or to request a

formal hearing before the director. If after the thirty (30) days or after the

hearing, the director confirms that the land is no longer forest land, the

director shall issue a certificate canceling his or her designation of the land

as forest land and shall furnish one copy to the owner and shall file one copy

in the office of the assessor.



   (2) Loss of designation by action of the director of

environmental management makes the land subject to the land use change tax

provided for in § 44-5-39.



   (c)(1) An owner of land designated as forest land by the

director of environmental management may apply for its classification as forest

land on any assessment list of the city or town where it is located by filing a

written application for the classification with the assessor of the city or

town not earlier than thirty (30) days before nor later than thirty (30) days

after the date of assessment, except that in years of revaluation not later

than thirty (30) days after written notice of revaluation or in its absence

after receipt of the tax bill. If the director has not cancelled his or her

designation of the land as forest land as of a date at or prior to the date of

the assessment, the assessor shall classify the land as forest land and include

the land as forest land on the assessment list.



   (2) In order to maintain this classification, each year

thereafter, the property owner shall submit to the assessor a certificate on a

form prescribed by the assessor confirming that the land is still managed as

forest land. The assessor shall in the first notification mail these forms by

first class mail not later than November thirtieth and if a second notification

is needed, it shall be mailed certified. Failure to submit the certificate by

thirty (30) days after the date of assessment is construed as voluntary

withdrawal of the classification; except that the assessor may waive this

requirement for good cause.



   (3) Notwithstanding the preceding subsections, whenever the

owner of land designated and classified as forest land is a municipal land

trust, municipal conservation commission, or private non-profit land trust,

annual certification is not required, and the classification continues until

the voluntary withdrawal of the classification by the owner or transfer of the

land by the owner in fee simple.



   (d) Application to the director of environmental management

for designation of land as forest land shall be made upon a form prescribed by

the director and shall present a description of the land and any other

information that he or she may require to aid the director in determining

whether the land qualifies for that designation, including a written forest

management plan prepared by a professionally qualified forester on the

director's staff or another professionally qualified forester in consultation

with the landowner, with recommended management practices to be followed. An

application to an assessor for classification of land as forest land shall be

made on a form prescribed by the assessor and shall present a description of

the land and the date of the issuance by the director of his or her certificate

designating it as forest land.



   (e) Failure to file an application for classification of land

as forest land within the time limit prescribed in subsection (c) of this

section and in the manner and form prescribed in subsection (d) of this section

is considered a waiver of the right to that classification on the assessment

lists.



   (f) Any landowner aggrieved by: (1) the cancellation of a

designation under subsection (b) of this section or the denial of an

application, filed in accordance with the provisions of subsections (c) and (d)

of this section, by the assessor of a city or town for a classification of land

as forest land; or (2) the use value assessment placed on land classified as

forest land by the assessor; has the right to file an appeal within ninety (90)

days of receiving notice, in writing, of the denial or the use value assessment

with the board of assessment review of the city or town. Should the city or

town not have a board of assessment review, the city or town council shall

review the appeal. The assessor is given the opportunity to explain either his

or her refusal to classify the land or the assessment placed on the classified

land. The board of review, or city or town council, shall also consider the

testimony of the landowner and the city or town's planning board and

conservation commission, if they exist. They shall also seek and consider the

advice of the office of state planning, the department of environmental

management, the dean of the college of resource development and the

conservation district in which the city or town is located.



   (g)(1) The board of assessment review, or city or town

council, shall not disturb the designation of the director issued pursuant to

subsection (a) of this section, unless the tax assessor has shown by a

preponderance of the evidence that that designation was erroneous.



   (2) The board of assessment review, or city or town council,

shall render a decision within forty-five (45) days of the date of filing the

appeal. Decisions of the board of assessment review, or city or town council,

may be appealed to the superior court pursuant to the provisions of §

44-27-6.



History of Section.

(P.L. 1980, ch. 252, § 2; P.L. 1986, ch. 73, § 1; P.L. 1990, ch. 339,

§ 2; P.L. 2013, ch. 303, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 430, § 1.)