Association Commends Governor and Legislature for Tax Breaks to Adirondack and Catskill Communities

Niskayuna, NY - The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks applauds the New York State Legislature and Governor Pataki for allocating funds in the new budget to partially reimburse local governments and school districts in the Adirondacks and Catskills for tax breaks given to land owners enrolled in the State's forest tax abatement program.

The State Legislature set aside $1.9 Million in this year's budget to help alleviate the long-standing problem of shifting tax burdens from forest land owners to other tax payers in communities where large tax abatements are granted to lands enrolled in the Forest Tax Law programs known as 480 and 480a.

"This is great news," said Dave Gibson, Executive Director of the Association. After more than twenty-five years of effort, towns and school districts in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks finally have achieved partial, one-year relief of this unfair tax burden on their communities."

"This is a big move forward," says the Association's Director of Special Projects, Mike DiNunzio. "Congratulations are due to the Governor, State Legislature and to a diverse coalition of stakeholders which has fought for so many years alongside local officials to make this change. School districts and towns in Senator Little's Adirondack district will receive "1 million of the "1.9 million budget allocation, and this represents a very real benefit to local communities in the Park."

Under current law, owners of more than fifty acres of forest land can enroll in a program that gives them up to an eighty percent tax break, in return for a commitment to keep their land in productive forestry for at least ten years. Communities in which these forests are located cannot deny land owners the right to enter the tax abatement program. So, other local tax payers must pay extra to make up the difference. "That's just not fair," said Gibson. "All New Yorkers benefit when our forests are managed sustainably, so we all should share the costs of keeping them undeveloped and productive."

Local governments and school districts that experience a 1 percent or greater shift of their tax base due to forest tax exemptions are eligible for this year's reimbursement. As of 1995, approximately 30 Adirondack, and 15 Catskill local governments experienced such tax shifts annually due to enrollment in the Forest Tax Law program. Department of Environmental Conservation statistics from 1999 showed that Essex County had more than 114,000 forested acres enrolled in these forest tax programs, while Hamilton County had 37,000 acres enrolled. Sullivan County had more than 69,000 acres enrolled, while Delaware County enrolled more than 46,000 acres.

"Now that the Governor and the Legislature have decided to move forward on this issue, we will work with the coalition to secure permanent tax relief for affected communities," Gibson said. "And, he added, "we want to see New York's forest tax law become a model program of open space conservation that attracts full participation from all qualified forest land owners. These folks are true partners in conservation. We need to provide them with incentives to continue their good stewardship without harming the communities of which they are a part."

The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks is a 103-year-old, non-profit, membership organization dedicated to sustaining the ecological integrity and mutual well being of the natural and human communities of the Adirondack Park. The Association maintains an Adirondack Research Library for public use and is building an educational Center for the Forest Preserve at the home of the late Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer in Niskayuna, NY.