In response to an outcry from farmers across the state, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Jan. 19 directed the Office of Policy and Management to reinstate the 2020 recommended land use values under Public Act 490, effectively suspending a newly issued update that would have sharply increased the assessed values used by municipalities to tax farmland.
Farmers like Patti Popp, owner of Sport Hill Farm in Easton, had been looking at increases of double or triple the current rate if the updated recommended values were used in local assessments.
“It’s never a good thing to do something like this to hard-working small farmers,” she said. “Connecticut taxes are already out of control, the thought of doubling or tripling them is not sustainable for any small businesses.”
Easton is home to many private farms that would have been affected by the increases as they are taxed under Public Act 490. PA 490 is a use-value program under which qualifying farmland, forestland and open space are assessed based on use rather than market value. State law requires the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, to develop a recommended schedule of land use values that is updated every five years and provided to municipalities.
Lamont’s directive to Joshua Wojcik, the interim secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, calls for the reinstatement of 2020 recommended land use values.
Farmers organized through savectland.org to demand immediate action on assessment hikes, retroactive correction on tax liabilities already imposed, relief via adjustments or abatements, safeguards against future assessment shocks and public acknowledgment of the harm caused.
State Rep. Anne Hughes said she welcomed the governor’s action.
“We will be working to support a group that can advise a proactive, fair re-evaluation process going forward to protect our farmers and their livelihoods,” Hughes said.
In his directive, Lamont also called for a working group of agricultural organizations, farmers, municipal leaders and assessors to recommend improvements to data collection, review and valuation processes.
“Family farms are vital to Connecticut’s economy and are an essential part of our heritage,” Lamont said in a statement. “Preserving these lands is about more than economics; it’s about sustaining a way of life that defines Connecticut.”
