HomeMy WebLinkAbout25-AA as of Aug 1 2019~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York State
Department of Agriculture and Markets
10B Airline Drive
Albany, New York 12235
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CIRCULAR 1150
ARTICLE 25AA -- AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS
AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW
(AS AMENDED THROUGH August 1, 2019)
AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS LAW
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Summary of 1994 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301
Description: Defines commercial horse boarding operations with at least
10 acres, having at all times at least 10 horses and
grossing an average of $10,000 as agricultural enterprises
eligible for agricultural assessment.
Effective Date: July 1, 1994 and shall apply to city and town assessment
rolls completed subsequent to March 1, 1995 and to village
assessment rolls completed subsequent to January 1, 1996.
Section Amended: §301(4)
Description: Permits land under 10 acres with gross sales of $50,000 or
more of agricultural products to qualify as "land used in
agricultural production" for purposes of agricultural
assessment.
Effective Date: July 26, 1994
Sections Amended: §§304-a, 305, 306, 307, 309, 310
Description: Changes name of Board of Equalization and Assessment to
Board of Real Property Services and Division of
Equalization and Assessment to the Office of Real Property
Services.
Effective Date: January 1, 1995
Sections Amended: §§305(6), 306(5)
Description: Makes technical corrections to Agriculture and Markets Law
provisions relating to special benefits assessments;
improves real property tax administration.
Effective Date: July 26, 1994, except that certain provisions relating to
villages take effect on January 1, 1995.
Section Amended: §306
Description: Exempts owners of land restricted by a conservation
easement from filing an individual commitment form in
order to receive agricultural assessment.
Effective Date: July 20, 1994
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Sections Amended: §§306, 308
Description: Eliminates filing of individual commitment form as
condition for receiving agricultural assessment outside of
agricultural districts.
Effective Date: August 2, 1994, shall apply to assessment rolls prepared
on the basis of taxable status dates commencing on or
after March 1, 1995.
Summary of 1995 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §§301(11)
Description: Amends to include farming practices in the definition of
"farm operation."
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Section Amended: §301(13)
Description: Amends to clarify the definition of a "commercial horse
boarding operation" to consist of at least ten acres and
boarding at least ten horses, regardless of ownership, and
exclude from eligibility for an agricultural assessment
operations where the primary on-site function is horse
racing.
Effective Date: August 2, 1995
Section Amended: §302(1)
Description: Amends to require a county Agriculture and Farmland
Protection Board to notify the Commissioner of Agriculture
and Markets and the Commissioner of the Department of
Environmental Conservation of any attempts to propose the
siting of solid waste management facilities upon farmland
within an agricultural district.
Effective Date: January 1, 1998
Section Amended: §302(1)(a)
Description: Amends to correct a technical error to provide that six,
rather than five members of a County Agricultural and
Farmland Protection Board shall reside within the county
which the respective board serves.
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Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Section Amended: §303(7)(c)
Description: Amends to correct the reference to those subdivisions of
Section 303 pursuant to which the county legislative body
may modify an agricultural district.
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Sections Amended: §305(4)
Description: Amends to include the actual construction of dwellings,
commercial or industrial facilities, or water or sewer
facilities to serve non-farm structures within the scope
of actions which trigger the Notice of Intent filing
requirements.
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Section Amended: §305(4)(h-1)
Description: Adds a new paragraph to prohibit the siting of solid waste
management facilities through the process of eminent
domain on land receiving an agricultural assessment or
upon land in agricultural production and located within an
agricultural district.
Effective Date: January 1, 1998, but will not apply to solid waste
management facility applications deemed complete by the
Department of Environmental Conservation on or before the
effective date.
Section Amended: §305(5)
Description: Amendments made to this section to clarify the original
intent of the Law. The amendments state that benefit
assessments, special ad valorem levies and other rates or
fees charged for municipal improvements can not be levied
on any basis upon land used primarily for agricultural
production within an agricultural district.
Effective Date: August 2, 1995.
Section Amended: §305(7)
Description: Provides for a four-year moratorium on real property
taxation on immature orchards/vineyards for four years
after replanting or expansion of orchards and/or
vineyards.
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Effective Date: July 28, 1995 and shall apply to assessment rolls prepared
after January 1, 1997.
Section Amended: §307
Description: Amends to make a technical correction to the reference to
subdivision 8 of Section 303 in the first sentence of the
section.
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Section Amended: §308(1)(b)
Description: Amends to change the name of the U.S.D.A. Soil
Conservation Service to the Natural Resources Conservation
Service and to authorize, rather than require, that the
Commissioner consult with the New York State College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences and the U.S.D.A. Natural
Resources Conservation Service on every sound agricultural
practices opinions.
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Section Amended: §308(2)
Description: Amends to make a technical correction to the reference to
Section 305 in the first sentence of the subdivision
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Section Added: §308-a
Description: Adds a new section to provide for the award of fees and
expenses to a prevailing party in certain private nuisance
actions, where the nuisance is alleged to be due to an
agricultural practice on land in an agricultural district
or subject to agricultural assessment, and provided such
agricultural practice constitutes a sound agricultural
practice pursuant to an opinion issued by the
Commissioner.
Effective Date: October 24, 1995
Summary of 1996 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(2)
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Description: Adds a new paragraph i to include woody biomass within the
definition of crops, livestock and livestock products for
agricultural assessment purposes.
Effective Date: 8/29/96
Section Amended: §301(4)
Description: Adds a new paragraph g to include land under a structure
in which crops, livestock or livestock products are
produced within the definition of land used in
agricultural production.
Effective Date: 8/29/96
Section Amended: §306(1), (1-a), (4), and (5)
Description: Improves real property tax administration; eliminates
superfluous references to individual commitments of
agricultural land for beneficial tax treatment; and
reconciles two chapters of Laws of 1994.
Effective Date: 8/8/96
Section Amended: §308(1)
Description: Specifies that the Commissioner is authorized to issue
Sound Agricultural Practice Opinions on the direct sale to
consumers of agricultural commodities or foods containing
agricultural commodities produced on-farm.
Effective Date: 6/18/96
Summary of 1997 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(2)(e)
Description: Expands the definition of “livestock and livestock
products” to include ratites, such as ostriches, emus,
rheas and kiwis.
Effective Date: 5/20/97
Section Amended: §301(4)(b)
Description: Deletes the term “qualifies” and adds the term “eligible”
to clarify that land is only required to be eligible for
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an agricultural assessment, not actually receiving an
agricultural assessment.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §301(11)
Description: Amends definition to delete the term “land used in
agricultural production” and include “buildings, equipment
and practices which contribute to the on-farm production,
preparation and marketing of crops, livestock and
livestock products as a commercial enterprise” within the
definition of “farm operation.”
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §303(1)
Description: Clarifies that maps submitted in the agricultural district
creation process should delineate the exterior boundaries
of a district and that the exterior boundaries should
conform to tax parcel boundaries.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Repealed: §303(7)
Section Added: §303-a
Description: Repeals §303(7) and adds a new §303-a that clarifies the
agricultural district review process.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §303(8)
Description: Clarifies that the agricultural district map filed by the
county must delineate the exterior boundaries of the
district; and for good cause shown, and upon petition by
the county, the Commissioner may approve the correction of
errors in materials filed pursuant to the district
creation process.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §304-b(1) and (2)
Description: Deletes references to “individual commitments” which were
removed in all other sections of this Article by Chapter
690 of the Laws of 1994.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
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Section Amended: §305(1)(a)
Description: Amends to specify that applicants for agricultural
assessments shall furnish the assessor with information
regarding the eligibility for agricultural assessment of
any land used in conjunction with rented land and changes
the deadline for filing an application for an agricultural
assessment in a year of revaluation or update from the
taxable status date to thirty days prior to the date set
by law for the filing of the tentative assessment roll.
Effective Date: 8/5/97
Section Amended: §305(1)(d) and §306(2)
Description: Amends to specify that the purchase of land by New York
City for watershed protection purposes or the conveyance
of a conservation easement by the City to the NYS DEC,
does not constitute a conversion and no such payment is
due when land is taken out of agricultural production.
Effective Date: 9/10/97
Section Repealed: §305(2)
Description: repealed
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §305(4)(g)
Description: Clarifies that certifications are only required at least
ten days before commencing an action rather than ten days
before commencing or approving an action.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §305(4)(j)
Description: Adds a new paragraph to authorize the Commissioner to
bring an action to enforce any mitigation measures
proposed by a project sponsor and accepted by the
Commissioner pursuant to a Notice of Intent filing which
are designed to minimize or avoid adverse agricultural
impacts reveled in the Notice process.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Added: §305-a
Description: Incorporates the language of Paragraph (b) of Section
305(2) to authorize the Commissioner to bring an action to
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enforce the provisions of Section 305-a(1) and expands the
scope of the Section to apply to all local laws,
ordinances, rules or regulations.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Section Amended: §308
Description: Adds a formal notification process whereby affected
parties are provided an opportunity to challenge a sound
agricultural practice opinion through an Article 78
proceeding.
Effective Date: 11/3/97
Summary of 1998 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Sections Amended: §303, 304
Description: Deletes reference to, and the responsibility of, the
Secretary of State to approve agricultural district
creation, modification or renewal.
Effective Date: 6/9/98
Section Amended: §304-a
Description: Changes the methodology for calculating agricultural
assessment values for organic soils (muck).
Effective Date: 7/14/98
Section Amended: §305
Description: Deletes reference to, and the responsibility of, the
Secretary of State to review Notices of Intent filed with
the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Effective Date: 6/9/98
Section Added: §308(3)
Description: Requires the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, in
consultation with the State Advisory Council on
Agriculture, to issue upon request opinions within 30 days
as to whether particular land uses are agricultural in
nature.
Effective Date: 7/14/98
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Section Amended: §309
Description: Requires the State Advisory Council on Agriculture to
review Section 308(3) requests and advise the Commissioner
as to whether particular land uses are agricultural in
nature.
Effective Date: 7/14/98
Section Amended: §310
Description: Strengthens the notification requirements concerning the
purchase of property within agricultural districts by
requiring the seller to provide a disclosure notice for
signature to the buyer when a purchase and/or sales
contract is presented.
Effective Date: 7/1/99
Summary of 1999 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(4)(e) and §301(9)(e)
Description: Provides that land set aside through participation in a
federal conservation program, regardless of the income
derived from the land, shall be eligible for an
agricultural assessment.
Effective Date: 9/7/99
Section Amended: §301(9)(e)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (e) to allow payments received for
land set aside under a federal conservation reserve program
to be included in calculating the average gross sales value
of products produced in determining whether land used as a
single farm operation qualifies as “land used in
agricultural production.”
Effective Date: 9/7/99
Section Amended: §303-a(4)
Description: Renumbers subdivision (4) to subdivision (5)
Effective Date: 7/20/99
Section Amended: §303-a(4)
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Description: Adds a new subdivision (4) that states that if the county
legislative body does not review a district upon its
anniversary date, the agricultural district remains as
originally constituted or until such time that the
agricultural district is modified or terminated.
Effective Date: 7/20/99
Section Amended: §305(7)
Description: Provides that the real property tax exemption for
agricultural land which is used solely for the purpose of
replanting or crop expansion as part of an orchard or
vineyard may be greater than 20% of the total acreage of
such orchard or vineyard when such orchard or vineyard is
located within an area declared by the Governor to be a
disaster emergency.
Effective Date: 9/7/99 and shall apply to assessment rolls prepared on the
basis of taxable status dates occurring on or after 9/7/99.
Section Amended: §308(3)
Description: Renumbers subdivision (3), which was added by Chapter 362
of the Laws of 1998, to subdivision (4)
Effective Date: 4/6/99
Section Repealed: §309(8) & (9)
Description: Repeals the two subdivisions
Effective Date: 7/20/99
Section Amended: §309(10)
Description: Renumbers subdivision (10) to subdivision (8)
Effective Date: 7/20/99
Section Amended §310(1)
Description: Adds language to the agricultural district disclosure
statement to notify a prospective buyer of land within an
agricultural district that under certain circumstances, the
availability of water and sewer services may be limited.
Effective Date: 7/1/00
Summary of 2000 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
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Section Amended: §305(1)(d)(v) and §306(2)(b)(iii)
Description: Revises reporting requirement of assessors to the State
Board of Real Property Services when land receiving an
agricultural assessment is converted to non-agricultural
uses.
Effective Date: 7/11/00
Section Amended: §308(1)(b)
Description: Requires the Commissioner to give consideration to a
practice conducted under the Agricultural Environmental
Management (AEM) Program when making a sound agricultural
practice determination.
Effective Date: 11/8/00
Summary of 2001 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(11)
Description: Includes manure processing and handling facilities as part
of a “farm operation” for purposes of administering the
Agricultural Districts Law.
Effective Date: 10/23/01
Section Amended: §301(11)
Description: Includes “commercial horse boarding operations” as part of
a “farm operation” for purposes of administering the
Agricultural Districts Law.
Effective Date: 10/31/01
Summary of 2002 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(4)
Description: Eliminates county legislative body approval for the
designation of eligible horse boarding operations as land
used in agricultural production.
Effective Date: 1/30/03
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Sections Amended: §301(4), §301(4)(b), and §301(4)(f)
Description: Reduces the number of acres needed to qualify for
agricultural real property assessment from ten acres to 7
or more acres as long as the value of crops produced
exceeds $10,000 on average in the preceding two years. The
size of rented land eligible for an agricultural assessment
is reduced from 10 acres to 7 acres as long as the smaller
parcel yields at least $10,000 in average annual gross
sales independently or in conjunction with land owned by
the farmer renting the parcel. The amendment also reduces
the number of acres needed to qualify as land used in
agricultural production from not less than ten acres to
seven or more acres and average gross sales of $10,000 or
more in the preceding two years or less than seven acr es
and average gross sales $50,000 or more in the preceding
two years.
Effective Date: 1/1/03
Section Added: §301(9)(f)
Description: Allows payments received by thoroughbred breeders pursuant
to Section 247 of the racing pari-mutuel wagering and
breeding law to be included in the definition of “gross
sales value” for agricultural assessment purposes.
Effective Date: 9/17/02
Section Amended: §301(11)
Description: Amends the definition of farm operation to indicate that
such operation may consist of one or more parcels of owned
or rented land and such parcels may or may not be
contiguous to each other.
Effective Date: 1/1/03
Section Amended: §301(13)
Description: Reduces the minimum acreage required for a commercial horse
boarding operation from ten to seven acres.
Effective Date: 1/1/03
Sections Amended: §303(2)(a)(1), §303(4), §303(5)(a) and (b), §303(6)(a) and
(b), §303(7) and §303(8)
Description: Amends various sections of the law to allow a landowner to
include viable agricultural land within a certified
agricultural district prior to its eight, twelve or twenty
year review period.
Effective Date: 12/20/02
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Summary of 2003 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Added: §301(4)(h)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (h) to allow first year farmers to
receive an agricultural assessment if they meet the gross
sales value requirements during their first year of
operation.
Effective Date: 9/9/03
Sections Amended: §301(5), §305(1)(d)(iv), and §306(2)(c)
Description: Amends various sections of the law so that conversion
penalties are not assessed on farmland that is being used
in agricultural production and receives an agricultural
assessment when such land is converted to wind energy
generation facilities.
Effective Date: 9/22/03
Sections Amended: §303-b, §303(2)(a)(1) and §303(4)
Description: Adds a new section 303-b to establish an annual 30-day
period during which a farmer can submit proposals to
include viable land within a certified agricultural
district.
Effective Date: 9/17/03
Sections Amended: §303(5)(b), §303(6)(b) and §303(8)
Description: Repeals various sections of the law to conform with the
provisions of a new section 303-b.
Effective Date: 9/17/03
Summary of 2004 Amendment to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(4)(h)
Description: Amends paragraph (h) to allow a farm operation to receive
an agricultural assessment if it meets the acreage and
gross sales value requirements during its first or second
year of agricultural production.
Effective Date: 2/24/04
Section Amended: §301(4)(i)
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Description: Adds a new paragraph (i) to allow start-up farm operations
that plant orchard or vineyard crops to immediately become
eligible to receive an agricultural assessment in its
first, second, third or fourth year of production.
Effective Date: 1/1/05
Summary of 2005 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(2)(e)
Description: Amends paragraph (e) by adding wool bearing animals, such
as alpacas and llamas, to the definition of “livestock and
livestock products.”
Effective Date: 7/12/05
Section Amended: §301(4)(h) and §301(13)
Description: Amends paragraph (h) to allow a “commercial horse boarding
operation” to receive an agricultural assessment if it
meets the acreage and gross sales value requirements during
its first or second year of agricultural production. The
definition of “commercial horse boarding operation” is
amended by stating that such operations may qualify as a
“farm operation” in its first or second year of operation
if it meets the acreage and number of horse requirements.
Effective Date: 8/23/05
Section Amended: §301(11) and §301(14)
Description: Includes “timber processing” as part of a “farm operation”
for purposes of administering the Agricultural Districts
Law and adds a new section by defining the term “timber
processing.”
Effective Date: 8/23/05
Section Amended: §305-b
Description: Adds a new section that authorizes the Commissioner to
review and comment upon the proposed rules and regulations
of other State agencies which may have an adverse impact on
agriculture and farming operations in the State.
Effective Date: 10/4/05 (Shall apply to proposed rules and regulations
publicly noticed 60 or more days following the effective
date.)
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Summary of 2006 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(4)
Description: Adds a new section (j) to allow newly planted Christmas
tree farms to be eligible for agricultural assessment in
their first through fifth years of agricultural production.
Effective Date: 1/1/07 and applies to assessment rolls prepared on the
basis of taxable status dates occurring on or after such
date.
Section Amended: §§301 and 308(1)
Description: Adds a new subdivision (15) to §301 to define “agricultural
tourism” and amends §308(1) to add “agricultural tourism”
to the list of examples of activities which entail
practices the Commissioner may consider for sound
agricultural practice opinions.
Effective Date: 8/16/06
Section Amended: §305(1)(a)
Description: Amends paragraph (1)(a) to allow filing of an application
after taxable status date where failure to timely file
resulted from a death of applicant’s spouse, child, parent,
brother or sister or illness of the applicant or
applicant’s spouse, child, parent, brother or sister which
prevents timely filing, as certified by a licensed
physician.
Effective Date: 9/13/06 and applies to assessment rolls prepared on the
basis of a taxable status date occurring on or after such
date.
Section Amended: §305(7)
Description: Amends paragraph (7) to extend the 10 0% exemption for newly
planted orchards and vineyards from 4 to 6 years.
Effective Date: 9/13/06 and applies to assessment rolls prepared on the
basis of a taxable status date occurring on or after
1/1/06.
Section Amended: §310(1), §308(5)
Description: Amends AML §§310(1), 308(5) and RPL §333-c(1) relative to
the disclosure notice required for prospective purchasers
of property within an agricultural district.
Effective Date: 7/26/06
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Summary of 2007 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §§303, 303-a & 304-b, repeals §303-a(2)(b) and (c)
Description: Amends AML §§303, 303-a and 304-b concerning the review of
agricultural districts and the reporting of agricultural
district data and repeals certain provisions of such law
relating thereto.
Effective Date: 7/3/07
Section Amended: §304-a
Description: Amends AML §304-a to limit an increase in the base
agricultural assessment values for any given year to 10
percent or less of the assessment value of the preceding
year.
Effective Date: 6/4/07
Section Amended: §305(1)(a)
Description: Amends AML §305(1)(a) in relation to authorizing the filing
of an application for an agricultural assessment after the
taxable status date in the event of a natural disaster or
destruction of farm structures.
Effective Date: 8/15/07
Summary of 2008 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §§301(2)(j), 301(4)(k) and 301(16)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (j) to §301(2) to add “apiary
products” to the definition of “crops, livestock and
livestock products,” adds a new paragraph (k) to §301(4) to
independently qualify apiaries for an agricultural
assessment and adds a new subdivision (16) to define
“apiary products operation.”
Effective Date: 7/21/08 and applies to assessment rolls prepared on the
basis of a taxable status date occurring on or after
7/21/08
Section Amended: §301(4)(a-1)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (a-1) to §301(4) to allow a not-for-
profit institution to qualify rented land for an
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agricultural assessment if the property is used for
agricultural research which is intended to improve the
quality or quantity of crops, livestock or livestock
products.
Effective Date: 9/25/08
Section Amended: §§301(11) and 308(1)(b)
Description: Amends subdivision (11) of §301 to add the “production,
management and harvesting of ‘farm woodland’” to the
definition of “farm operation” and amends §308(1)(b) to add
the “production, management and harvesting of ‘farm
woodland’” to the list of examples of activities which
entail practices the Commissioner may consider for sound
agricultural practice opinions.
Effective Date: 9/4/08
Section Amended: §§301(9), 301(11), and 301(16)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (g) to §301(9) to allow up to $5,000
from the sale of “compost, mulch or other organic biomass
crops” to help meet the eligibility requirements for an
agricultural assessment; amends subdivision (11) of §301 to
add “compost, mulch or other biomass crops” to the
definition of “farm operation” and adds a new subdivision
(16) to define “compost, mulch or other organic biomass
crops.”
Effective Date: 9/4/08
Summary of 2009 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
No amendments were made to the Law in 2009
Summary of 2010 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §§301(11), 301(14) and 308(1)
Description: Amends subdivision (11) of §301 to substitute “timber
operation” for “timber processing” and remove the reference
to “farm woodland”, which is a term used for agricultural
assessment. In addition, amends the definition of “timber
processing” [§301(14)] and renames that section “timber
operation”. Amends definition to remove a reference to
“readily moveable, nonpermanent saw mill” and adds
“production, management, harvesting,...and marketing” to
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the definition. Amends §308(1) to substitute “timber
operation” for “farm woodland” and removes a reference to
the “production, management and harvesting of ‘farm
woodland.’
Effective Date: 6/15/10
Section Amended: §301(15)
Description: Amends the definition of “agricultural tourism” to add
maple sap and pure maple products.
Effective Date: 5/18/10
Section Amended: §303-a(5)
Description: Amends subdivision (5) of §303-a to add “correction of any
errors” to a list of procedures as described in §303(5),
(6) and (7).
Effective Date: 6/15/10
Section Amended: §305(7)
Description: Amends an existing property tax exemption for reinvestment
in orchards and vineyards by establishing a more
streamlined process to implement the exemption.
Effective Date: 7/30/10
Summary of 2011 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(4)(c)
Description: Amends AML §301(4)(c)to include agricultural amusements as
support land to farm operations or land used in
agricultural production.
Effective Date: 6/8/11
Section Amended: §§301(11), 301(17), 301(4)(l)
Description: Amends AML §301(11) to add “commercial equine operation” to
the definition of farm operation, adds a new paragraph 17
to §301 to define the term “commercial equine operation,”
and adds a new paragraph (l) to AML §301(4) to
independently qualify “commercial equine operation” for an
agricultural assessment.
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Effective Date: 8/3/11
Section Amended: §302(1)(a)
Description: Amends AML §302(1)(a)to allow an employee of the county
soil and water conservation district, as designated by the
chairperson, to become the voting member on the county
AFPB.
Effective Date: 7/20/11
Section Amended: §§305-a(1)(b), 308(1)(b)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (b) to AML §305-a (1) to require the
commissioner to render an opinion on whether farm
operations would be unreasonably restricted or regulated by
proposed changes in local laws and amends AML §308(1)(b) to
require the commissioner to provide certain consultation
information to the municipality where the agricultural
practice was evaluated.
Effective Date: 9/23/11
Summary of 2012 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(7)
Description: Amends the definition of “viable agricultural land” to
define the term as land highly suitable for a “farm
operation” as defined in the law.
Effective Date: 7/18/12
Section Amended: 305(1)(a)
Description: Amends AML §305(1)(a) to streamline the process of renewing
agricultural assessments, provided there are no changes in
farmland eligibility, acreage, or ownership.
Effective Date: 7/18/12
Section Amended: 301(4)
Description: Amends the opening paragraph of the definition of “land
used in agricultural production” to include “commercial
equine operations” as defined in this section.
Effective Date: 9/30/12
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Summary of 2013 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §304-a(4)(g)
Description: Decrease the allowable base percentage change in
agricultural assessment value from ten percent to two
percent of the preceding year.
Effective Date: 10/21/13
Summary of 2014 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(4)(m)
Description: Adds a new section (m) to include “silvopasturing” as land
used in agricultural production, AML §301(4).
Effective Date: 1/1/15
Section Amended: §303(1)
Description: Decreases the amount of land needed to create an
agricultural district from five hundred acres to two
hundred fifty acres.
Effective Date: 1/20/15
Summary of 2015 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(2)(k)
Description: Adds a new subsection (k) to include log-grown woodland
mushrooms to the definition of “crop, livestock and
livestock products”, AML §301(2).
Effective Date: 9/25/15
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Summary of 2016 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §301(3)
Description: Clarifies the definition of “farm woodland” as land used
for the production of woodland products intended for sale.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §301(11)
Description: Amends the definition of “farm operation” to the extent of
renumbering subdivisions “16” and “17” to “17” and 18”.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §301(12)
Description: Amends the definition of “agricultural data statement” to
reference the new placement of agricultural data statement
provisions in § 305-b.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §301(16)
Description: Renumbers subdivision “16” to subdivision “17”.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §301(17)
Description: Renumbers subdivision “17” to subdivision “18”.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §§303, 303-a
Description: Streamlines the agricultural district creation process by
removing requirements of (a) county planning board review;
and (b) a DEC determination on a plan’s consistency with
environmental plans. Also requires eight-year review
periods and removes alternate review periods.
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Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §303(1)
Description: Modifies eligible landowners who may submit a proposal for
the creation of an agricultural district to only those
landowners who own at least two hundred fifty acres of the
land proposed.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §§ 303(2), 303-a
Description: Requires that the county legislative body provide notice of
proposed district by posting on the county’s website and by
providing notice in writing by first class mail to those
municipalities that encompass the proposed district, and
permits any county landowner or municipality whose
territory encompasses the proposed district to propose
modifications to the proposed district.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 303(4)
Description: Eliminates procedural timelines for county legislative
adoption, review, modification, or rejection, except that
plan determination must be submitted within a year after
receipt of a complete proposal with the opportunity of one
six month extension upon good cause granted by the
Commissioner.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 303(8)
Description: Establishes the immediate creation of the proposed district
upon the Commissioner’s certification.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
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Section Amended: § 303-a(2)(b)
Description: Implements a 45-day deadline for the agriculture and
farmland protection board’s report in the review of
existing agricultural districts.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 303-a(3)
Description: Authorizes the county legislative body to adopt any
modification of the review plan it deems appropriate
without a public hearing or further approval processes.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 303-c
Description: Adds a new section to establish the process for the
consolidation of an existing agricultural district with one
undergoing review pursuant to § 303-a.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 304
Description: Repealed.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 304-b
Description: Technical correction to remove a reference to “planning” to
more accurately reflect the Department of Agriculture and
Markets’ Agricultural and Farmland Protection Programs,
which encompass more than planning grants.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: §§ 305(1)(d), 306(2)
Description: Increases the penalty which a local assessing unit may
impose if the landowner fails to notify the assessor about
conversion of agricultural land to a non-agricultural use
to $1,000 (from $500) and to increase the minimum payment
Page | 25
amount which may be imposed by a local assessing unit for
conversion to $500 (from $100).
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 305(1)(e)
Description: Paragraph (e) is repealed and paragraph (f) is relettered
as (e).
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 305(4)(b)-(f)
Description: Paragraph (b) is repealed. Paragraphs (c), (d), (e), and
(f) are relettered as (b), (c), (d), and (e) and all
references to final notices of intent are deleted to
reflect revised requirement of only one notice of intent
filing. Also requires notice of public hearing be posted on
the Department of Agriculture and Markets website and sent
by first class mail to affected municipalities.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 305(4)(g)-(h-1)
Description: Paragraphs (g), (h), and (h-1) are relettered as (f), (g),
and (h).
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 305-a(2)-(4)
Description: Repealed.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 305-b
Description: Renumbers § 305-b to § 305-c and adds a new § 305-b
entitled "Agricultural Data Statement" to adopt the
language repealed from previous § 305-a (2)–(4).
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Page | 26
Section Amended: § 307
Description: Removes authority to promulgate regulations for
consolidation of agricultural districts because new § 303-c
establishes a process for the consolidation of existing
agricultural districts.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Section Amended: § 309 (6)
Description: Modifies the minimum required number of meetings that the
Advisory Council on Agriculture meet from four (4) per year
to one (1) per year.
Effective Date: 5/25/16
Summary of 2017 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: § 301(2)(l)
Description: Adds a new paragraph (l) to add "industrial hemp" to the
definition of "crops, livestock and livestock products."
Effective Date: 7/12/17
Section Amended: § 309 (9)
Description: Adds a new section that provides that the advisory council
on agriculture shall advise the commissioner in
establishing procedures for making annual awards
recognizing New York farms, agricultural and food
businesses, and institutions that are successful in
producing, processing, marketing, and/or promoting New York
farm and food products.
Effective Date: 7/24/17
Section Amended: § 309-a
Description: Adds a new section that provides for the establishment of
the young farmer advisory board on agriculture to identify
issues relating to young and beginning farmers and to
provide advice to the commissioner, the governor and
Page | 27
relevant state agencies regarding the promotion of
agriculture as a career path and the economic development
of young and aspiring farmers.
Effective Date: 7/25/17
Summary of 2018 Amendments to the Agricultural Districts Law
Section Amended: §§ 301(4)(n), 305(7)
Description: Amends the definition of “land used in agricultural
production” to include certain lands used as a single
operation for the production for sale of hops and provides
a real property tax exemption for certain hopyards.
Effective Date: 8/16/18
Page | 28
ARTICLE 25-AA
AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS
Section 300. Declaration of legislative findings and intent.
301. Definitions.
302. County agricultural and farmland protection board.
303. Agricultural districts; creation.
303-a. Agricultural districts; review.
303-b. Agricultural districts; inclusion of viable agricultural
land.
303-c. Consolidation of agricultural districts.
304-a. Agricultural assessment values.
304-b. Agricultural district data reporting.
305. Agricultural districts; effects.
305-a. Coordination of local planning and land use
decision-making with the agricultural districts
program.
305-b. Agricultural data statement.
305-c. Review of proposed rules and regulations of state
agencies affecting the agricultural industry.
306. Agricultural lands outside of districts; agricultural
assessments.
307. Promulgation of rules and regulations.
308. Right to farm.
308-a. Fees and expenses in certain private nuisance actions.
309. Advisory council on agriculture.
310. Disclosure.
§ 300. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. It is hereby
found and declared that many of the agricultural lands in New York state
are in jeopardy of being lost for any agricultural purposes. When
nonagricultural development extends into farm areas, competition for
limited land resources results. Ordinances inhibiting farming tend to
follow, farm taxes rise, and hopes for speculative gains discourage
investments in farm improvements, often leading to the idling or
conversion of potentially productive agricultural land.
The socio-economic vitality of agriculture in this state is essential
to the economic stability and growth of many local communities and the
state as a whole. It is, therefore, the declared policy of the state to
conserve, protect and encourage the development and improvement of its
agricultural land for production of food and other agricultural
products. It is also the declared policy of the state to conserve and
protect agricultural lands as valued natural and ecological resources
which provide needed open spaces for clean air sheds, as well as for
aesthetic purposes.
The constitution of the state of New York directs the legislature to
provide for the protection of agricultural lands. It is the purpose of
this article to provide a locally-initiated mechanism for the protection
and enhancement of New York state's agricultural land as a viable
segment of the local and state economies and as an economic and
environmental resource of major importance.
Page | 29
§ 301. Definitions. When used in this article:
1. "Agricultural assessment value" means the value per acre assigned
to land for assessment purposes determined pursuant to the capitalized
value of production procedure prescribed by section three hundred four-a
of this article.
2. "Crops, livestock and livestock products" shall include but not be
limited to the following:
a. Field crops, including corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, hay,
potatoes and dry beans.
b. Fruits, including apples, peaches, grapes, cherries and berries.
c. Vegetables, including tomatoes, snap beans, cabbage, carrots, beets
and onions.
d. Horticultural specialties, including nursery stock, ornamental
shrubs, ornamental trees and flowers.
e. Livestock and livestock products, including cattle, sheep, hogs,
goats, horses, poultry, ratites, such as ostriches, emus, rheas and
kiwis, farmed deer, farmed buffalo, fur bearing animals, wool bearing
animals, such as alpacas and llamas, milk, eggs and furs.
f. Maple sap.
g. Christmas trees derived from a managed Christmas tree operation
whether dug for transplanting or cut from the stump.
h. Aquaculture products, including fish, fish products, water plants
and shellfish.
i. Woody biomass, which means short rotation woody crops raised for
bioenergy, and shall not include farm woodland.
j. Apiary products, including honey, beeswax, royal jelly, bee pollen,
propolis, package bees, nucs and queens. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "nucs" shall mean small honey bee colonies created from
larger colonies including the nuc box, which is a smaller version of a
beehive, designed to hold up to five frames from an existing colony.
k. Actively managed log-grown woodland mushrooms.
l. Industrial hemp as defined in section five hundred five of this
chapter.
3. "Farm woodland" means land used for the production of woodland
products intended for sale, including but not limited to logs, lumber,
posts and firewood. Farm woodland shall not include land used to produce
Christmas trees or land used for the processing or retail merchandising
of woodland products.
4. "Land used in agricultural production" means not less than seven
acres of land used as a single operation in the preceding two years for
the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of an
average gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or more; or, not less
than seven acres of land used in the preceding two years to support a
commercial horse boarding operation or a commercial equine operation
with annual gross receipts of ten thousand dollars or more. Land used in
agricultural production shall not include land or portions thereof used
for processing or retail merchandising of such crops, livestock or
livestock products. Land used in agricultural production shall also
include:
a. Rented land which otherwise satisfies the requirements for
eligibility for an agricultural assessment.
a-1. Land used by a not-for-profit institution for the purposes of
agricultural research that is intended to improve the quality or
quantity of crops, livestock or livestock products. Such land shall
qualify for an agricultural assessment upon application made pursuant to
paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section three hundred five of this
Page | 30
article, except that no minimum gross sales value shall be required.
b. Land of not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products,
exclusive of woodland products, which does not independently satisfy the
gross sales value requirement, where such land was used in such
production for the preceding two years and currently is being so used
under a written rental arrangement of five or more years in conjunction
with land which is eligible for an agricultural assessment.
c. Land used in support of a farm operation or land used in
agricultural production, constituting a portion of a parcel, as
identified on the assessment roll, which also contains land qualified
for an agricultural assessment. Such land shall include land used for
agricultural amusements which are produced from crops grown or produced
on the farm, provided that such crops are harvested and marketed in the
same manner as other crops produced on such farm. Such agricultural
amusements shall include, but not be limited to, so-called "corn mazes"
or "hay bale mazes".
d. Farm woodland which is part of land which is qualified for an
agricultural assessment, provided, however, that such farm woodland
attributable to any separately described and assessed parcel shall not
exceed fifty acres.
e. Land set aside through participation in a federal conservation
program pursuant to title one of the federal food security act of
nineteen hundred eighty-five or any subsequent federal programs
established for the purposes of replenishing highly erodible land which
has been depleted by continuous tilling or reducing national surpluses
of agricultural commodities and such land shall qualify for agricultural
assessment upon application made pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision
one of section three hundred five of this article, except that no
minimum gross sales value shall be required.
f. Land of not less than seven acres used as a single operation in the
preceding two years for the production for sale of crops, livestock or
livestock products of an average gross sales value of ten thousand
dollars or more, or land of less than seven acres used as a single
operation in the preceding two years for the production for sale of
crops, livestock or livestock products of an average gross sales value
of fifty thousand dollars or more.
g. Land under a structure within which crops, livestock or livestock
products are produced, provided that the sales of such crops, livestock
or livestock products meet the gross sales requirements of paragraph f
of this subdivision.
h. Land that is owned or rented by a farm operation in its first or
second year of agricultural production, or, in the case of a commercial
horse boarding operation in its first or second year of operation, that
consists of (1) not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of an
annual gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or more; or (2) less
than seven acres used as a single operation for the production for sale
of crops, livestock or livestock products of an annual gross sales value
of fifty thousand dollars or more; or (3) land situated under a
structure within which crops, livestock or livestock products are
produced, provided that such crops, livestock or livestock products have
an annual gross sales value of (i) ten thousand dollars or more, if the
farm operation uses seven or more acres in agricultural production, or
(ii) fifty thousand dollars or more, if the farm operation uses less
than seven acres in agricultural production; or (4) not less than seven
Page | 31
acres used as a single operation to support a commercial horse boarding
operation with annual gross receipts of ten thousand dollars or more.
i. Land of not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
the production for sale of orchard or vineyard crops when such land is
used solely for the purpose of planting a new orchard or vineyard and
when such land is also owned or rented by a newly established farm
operation in its first, second, third or fourth year of agricultural
production.
j. Land of not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
the production and sale of Christmas trees when such land is used solely
for the purpose of planting Christmas trees that will be made available
for sale, whether dug for transplanting or cut from the stump and when
such land is owned or rented by a newly established farm operation in
its first, second, third, fourth or fifth year of agricultural
production.
k. Land used to support an apiary products operation which is owned by
the operation and consists of (i) not less than seven acres nor more
than ten acres used as a single operation in the preceding two years for
the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of an
average gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or more or (ii) less
than seven acres used as a single operation in the preceding two years
for the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of
an average gross sales value of fifty thousand dollars or more. The land
used to support an apiary products operation shall include, but not be
limited to, the land under a structure within which apiary products are
produced, harvested and stored for sale; and a buffer area maintained by
the operation between the operation and adjacent landowners.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, rented land
associated with an apiary products operation is not eligible for an
agricultural assessment based on this paragraph.
l. Land that is owned or rented by a farm operation in its first or
second year of agricultural production or in the case of a commercial
equine operation, in its first or second year of operation, that
consists of not less than seven acres and stabling at least ten horses,
regardless of ownership, that receives ten thousand dollars or more in
gross receipts annually from fees generated through the provision of
commercial equine activities including, but not limited to riding
lessons, trail riding activities or training of horses or through the
production for sale of crops, livestock, and livestock products, or
through both the provision of such commercial equine activities and such
production. Under no circumstances shall this subdivision be construed
to include operations whose primary on site function is horse racing.
m. Land used in silvopasturing shall be limited to up to ten fenced
acres per large livestock, including cattle, horses and camelids, and up
to five fenced acres per small livestock, such as sheep, hogs, goats and
poultry. For the purposes of this subdivision, "silvopasturing" shall
mean the intentional combination of trees, forages and livestock managed
as a single integrated practice for the collective benefit of each,
including the planting of appropriate grasses and legume forages among
trees for sound grazing and livestock husbandry.
n. Land of not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
the production for sale of hops when such land is used solely for the
purpose of planting a new hopyard and when such land is also owned or
rented by a newly established farm operation in its first, second, third
or fourth year of agricultural production.
Page | 32
5. "Oil, gas or wind exploration, development or extraction
activities" means the installation and use of fixtures and equipment
which are necessary for the exploration, development or extraction of
oil, natural gas or wind energy, including access roads, drilling
apparatus, pumping facilities, pipelines, and wind turbines.
6. "Unique and irreplaceable agricultural land" means land which is
uniquely suited for the production of high value crops, including, but
not limited to fruits, vegetables and horticultural specialties.
7. "Viable agricultural land" means land highly suitable for a farm
operation as defined in this section.
8. "Conversion" means an outward or affirmative act changing the use
of agricultural land and shall not mean the nonuse or idling of such
land.
9. "Gross sales value" means the proceeds from the sale of:
a. Crops, livestock and livestock products produced on land used in
agricultural production provided, however, that whenever a crop is
processed before sale, the proceeds shall be based upon the market value
of such crop in its unprocessed state;
b. Woodland products from farm woodland eligible to receive an
agricultural assessment, not to exceed two thousand dollars annually;
c. Honey and beeswax produced by bees in hives located on an otherwise
qualified farm operation but which does not independently satisfy the
gross sales requirement;
d. Maple syrup processed from maple sap produced on land used in
agricultural production in conjunction with the same or an otherwise
qualified farm operation;
e. Or payments received by reason of land set aside pursuant to
paragraph e of subdivision four of this section;
f. Or payments received by thoroughbred breeders pursuant to section
two hundred fifty-four of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding
law; and
g. Compost, mulch or other organic biomass crops as defined in
subdivision sixteen of this section produced on land used in
agricultural production, not to exceed five thousand dollars annually.
11. "Farm operation" means the land and on-farm buildings, equipment,
manure processing and handling facilities, and practices which
contribute to the production, preparation and marketing of crops,
livestock and livestock products as a commercial enterprise, including a
"commercial horse boarding operation" as defined in subdivision thirteen
of this section, a "timber operation" as defined in subdivision fourteen
of this section, "compost, mulch or other biomass crops" as defined in
subdivision seventeen of this section and "commercial equine operation"
as defined in subdivision eighteen of this section. Such farm operation
may consist of one or more parcels of owned or rented land, which
parcels may be contiguous or noncontiguous to each other.
12. "Agricultural data statement" means an identification of farm
operations within an agricultural district located within five hundred
feet of the boundary of property upon which an action requiring
municipal review and approval by the planning board, zoning board of
appeals, town board, or village board of trustees pursuant to article
sixteen of the town law or article seven of the village law is proposed,
as provided in section three hundred five-b of this article.
13. "Commercial horse boarding operation" means an agricultural
enterprise, consisting of at least seven acres and boarding at least ten
horses, regardless of ownership, that receives ten thousand dollars or
more in gross receipts annually from fees generated either through the
Page | 33
boarding of horses or through the production for sale of crops,
livestock, and livestock products, or through both such boarding and
such production. Under no circumstances shall this subdivision be
construed to include operations whose primary on site function is horse
racing. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, a
commercial horse boarding operation that is proposed or in its first or
second year of operation may qualify as a farm operation if it is an
agricultural enterprise, consisting of at least seven acres, and
boarding at least ten horses, regardless of ownership, by the end of the
first year of operation.
14. "Timber operation" means the on-farm production, management,
harvesting, processing and marketing of timber grown on the farm
operation into woodland products, including but not limited to logs,
lumber, posts and firewood, provided that such farm operation consists
of at least seven acres and produces for sale crops, livestock or
livestock products of an annual gross sales value of ten thousand
dollars or more and that the annual gross sales value of such processed
woodland products does not exceed the annual gross sales value of such
crops, livestock or livestock products.
15. "Agricultural tourism" means activities, including the production
of maple sap and pure maple products made therefrom, conducted by a
farmer on-farm for the enjoyment and/or education of the public, which
primarily promote the sale, marketing, production, harvesting or use of
the products of the farm and enhance the public's understanding and
awareness of farming and farm life.
16. "Apiary products operation" means an agricultural enterprise,
consisting of land owned by the operation, upon which bee hives are
located and maintained for the purpose of producing, harvesting and
storing apiary products for sale.
17. "Compost, mulch or other organic biomass crops" means the on-farm
processing, mixing, handling or marketing of organic matter that is
grown or produced by such farm operation to rid such farm operation of
its excess agricultural waste; and the on-farm processing, mixing or
handling of off-farm generated organic matter that is transported to
such farm operation and is necessary to facilitate the composting of
such farm operation's agricultural waste. This shall also include the
on-farm processing, mixing or handling of off-farm generated organic
matter for use only on that farm operation. Such organic matter shall
include, but not be limited to, manure, hay, leaves, yard waste, silage,
organic farm waste, vegetation, wood biomass or by-products of
agricultural products that have been processed on such farm operation.
The resulting products shall be converted into compost, mulch or other
organic biomass crops that can be used as fertilizers, soil enhancers or
supplements, or bedding materials. For purposes of this section,
"compost" shall be processed by the aerobic, thermophilic decomposition
of solid organic constituents of solid waste to produce a stable,
humus-like material.
18. "Commercial equine operation" means an agricultural enterprise,
consisting of at least seven acres and stabling at least ten horses,
regardless of ownership, that receives ten thousand dollars or more in
gross receipts annually from fees generated through the provision of
commercial equine activities including, but not limited to riding
lessons, trail riding activities or training of horses or through the
production for sale of crops, livestock, and livestock products, or
through both the provision of such commercial equine activities and such
production. Under no circumstances shall this subdivision be construed
Page | 34
to include operations whose primary on site function is horse racing.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, an agricultural
enterprise that is proposed or in its first or second year of operation
may qualify as a commercial equine operation if it consists of at least
seven acres and stables at least ten horses, regardless of ownership, by
the end of the first year of operation.
§ 302. County agricultural and farmland protection board. 1. (a) A
county legislative body may establish a county agricultural and farmland
protection board which shall consist of eleven members, at least four of
whom shall be active farmers. At least one member of such board shall
represent agribusiness and one member may represent an organization
dedicated to agricultural land preservation. These six members of the
board shall reside within the county which the respective board serves.
The members of the board shall also include the chairperson of the
county soil and water conservation district's board of directors or an
employee of the county soil and water conservation district designated
by the chairperson, a member of the county legislative body, a county
cooperative extension agent, the county planning director and the county
director of real property tax services. The chairperson shall be chosen
by majority vote. Such board shall be established in the event no such
board exists at the time of receipt by the county legislative body of a
petition for the creation or review of an agricultural district pursuant
to section three hundred three of this article, or at the time of
receipt by the county of a notice of intent filing pursuant to
subdivision four of section three hundred five of this article. The
members of such board shall be appointed by the chairperson of the
county legislative body, who shall solicit nominations from farm
membership organizations except for the chairperson of the county soil
and water conservation district's board of directors or his or her
designee, the county planning director and director of real property tax
services, who shall serve ex officio. The members shall serve without
salary, but the county legislative body may entitle each such member to
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of official duties.
(b) After the board has been established, the chairperson of the
county legislative body shall appoint to it two qualified persons for
terms of two years each, two qualified persons for terms of three years
each and two qualified persons for a term of four years. Thereafter, the
appointment of each member shall be for a term of four years.
Appointment of a member of the county legislative body shall be for a
term coterminous with the member's term of office. Appointment of the
county planning director and county director of real property tax
services shall be coterminous with their tenure in such office. The
appointment of the chairperson of the county soil and water conservation
district's board of directors shall be for a term coterminous with his
or her designation as chairperson of the county soil and water
conservation district's board of directors. Any member of the board may
be reappointed for a succeeding term on such board without limitations
as to the number of terms the member may serve.
(c) The county agricultural and farmland protection board shall advise
the county legislative body and work with the county planning board in
relation to the proposed establishment, modification, continuation or
termination of any agricultural district. The board shall render expert
advice relating to the desirability of such action, including advice as
Page | 35
to the nature of farming and farm resources within any proposed or
established area and the relation of farming in such area to the county
as a whole. The board may review notice of intent filings pursuant to
subdivision four of section three hundred five of this article and make
findings and recommendations pursuant to that section as to the effect
and reasonableness of proposed actions involving the advance of public
funds or acquisitions of farmland in agricultural districts by
governmental entities. The board shall also assess and approve county
agricultural and farmland protection plans.
(d) A county agricultural and farmland protection board may request
the commissioner of agriculture and markets to review any state agency
rules and regulations which the board identifies as affecting the
agricultural activities within an existing or proposed agricultural
district. Upon receipt of any such request, the commissioner of
agriculture and markets shall, if the necessary funds are available,
submit in writing to the board (i) notice of changes in such rules and
regulations which he or she deems necessary, (ii) a copy of
correspondence with another agency if such rules and regulations are
outside his or her jurisdiction, including such rules and regulations
being reviewed, and his or her recommendations for modification, or
(iii) his or her reasons for determining that existing rules and
regulations be continued without modification.
(e) The county agricultural and farmland protection board shall notify
the commissioner and the commissioner of the department of environmental
conservation of any attempts to propose the siting of solid waste
management facilities upon farmland within an agricultural district.
2. Upon the request of one or more owners of land used in agricultural
production the board may review the land classification for such land
established by the department of agriculture and markets, consulting
with the district soil and water conservation office, and the county
cooperative extension service office. After such review, the board may
recommend revisions to the classification of specific land areas based
on local soil, land and climatic conditions to the department of
agriculture and markets.
§ 303. Agricultural districts; creation. 1. Any owner or owners of
land may submit a proposal to the county legislative body for the
creation of an agricultural district within such county, provided that
such owner or owners own at least two hundred fifty acres of the land
proposed to be included in the district. Such proposal shall be
submitted in such manner and form as may be prescribed by the
commissioner, shall include a description of the proposed district,
including a map delineating the exterior boundaries of the district
which shall conform to tax parcel boundaries, and the tax map
identification numbers for every parcel in the proposed district. The
proposal shall include a review period of eight years.
2. Upon the receipt of such a proposal, the county legislative body:
a. shall thereupon provide notice of such proposal by publishing a
notice in a newspaper having general circulation within the proposed
district and by posting a notice on the home page of the county's
website; posting such notice in five conspicuous places within the
proposed district; and providing such notice in writing by first class
mail to those municipalities whose territory encompasses the proposed
district. The notice shall contain the following information:
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(1) a statement that a proposal for an agricultural district has been
filed with the county legislative body pursuant to this article;
(2) a statement that the proposal will be on file open to public
inspection in the county clerk's office;
(3) a statement that any county landowner or municipality whose
territory encompasses the proposed district may propose a modification
of the proposed district in such form and manner as may be prescribed by
the commissioner;
(4) a statement that the proposed modification must be filed with the
county clerk and the clerk of the county legislature within thirty days
of the publication and posting and mailing of such notice; and
(5) a statement that at the termination of the thirty day period, the
proposal and proposed modifications will be submitted to the county
agricultural and farmland protection board and that thereafter a public
hearing will be held on the proposal, proposed modifications, and
recommendations of the county agricultural and farmland protection
board;
b. shall receive any proposals for modifications of such proposal
which may be submitted by proponents of the district, any county
landowners or municipalities within thirty days of the publication and
posting and mailing of such notice;
c. shall, upon the termination of such thirty day period, refer such
proposal and proposed modifications to the county agricultural and
farmland protection board, which shall, after consultation with the
county planning board, within forty-five days report to the county
legislative body its recommendations concerning the proposal and
proposed modifications; and
d. shall hold a public hearing in the following manner:
(1) The hearing shall be held at a place within the proposed district
or otherwise readily accessible to the proposed district;
(2) The notice shall contain the following information:
(a) a statement of the time, date and place of the public hearing;
(b) a description of the proposed district, any proposed additions and
any recommendations of the county agricultural and farmland protection
board; and
(c) a statement that the public hearing will be held concerning:
(i) the original proposal;
(ii) any written amendments proposed during the thirty day review
period; and
(iii) any recommendations proposed by the county agricultural and
farmland protection board;
(3) The notice shall be published in a newspaper having a general
circulation within the proposed district and posted on the home page of
the county's website and shall be given in writing by first class mail
to those municipalities whose territory encompasses the proposed
district and any proposed modifications, owners of real property within
such a proposed district or any proposed modifications who are listed on
the most recent assessment roll, the commissioner and the advisory
council on agriculture.
3. The following factors shall be considered by the county
agricultural and farmland protection board and identified as issues for
comment at the public hearing:
a. the viability of active farming within the proposed district and in
areas adjacent thereto;
b. the presence of any viable farm lands within the proposed district
and adjacent thereto that are not now in active farming;
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c. the nature and extent of land uses other than active farming within
the proposed district and adjacent thereto;
d. county developmental patterns and needs; and
e. any other matters which the county legislative body deems to be
relevant.
In judging viability, any relevant agricultural viability maps
prepared by the commissioner shall be considered, as well as soil,
climate, topography, other natural factors, markets for farm products,
the extent and nature of farm improvements, the present status of
farming, anticipated trends in agricultural economic conditions and
technology, and such other factors as may be relevant.
4. The county legislative body, after receiving the report and
recommendations, including any recommendations of the county planning
board, of the county agricultural and farmland protection board and
after such public hearing, may adopt as a plan the proposal or any
modification of the proposal it deems appropriate or may act to reject
the proposal.
5. All plans that are adopted shall include: (a) a review period of
eight years; (b) only whole tax parcels in the proposed district; and
(c) to the extent feasible, include adjacent viable farm lands, and
exclude, to the extent feasible, nonviable farm land and non-farm land.
6. Upon the adoption of a plan, the county legislative body shall
submit it to the commissioner. Adopted plans shall be submitted within
one year after receipt of a complete proposal as described in
subdivision one of this section. The commissioner may, upon application
by the county legislative body and for good cause shown, extend the
period for submission once for up to six additional months.
7. The commissioner shall have sixty days after receipt of the plan
within which to certify to the county legislative body whether the plan
is eligible for districting, whether the area to be districted consists
predominantly of viable agricultural land, and whether the plan of the
proposed district is feasible, and will serve the public interest by
assisting in maintaining a viable agricultural industry within the
district and the state. The commissioner shall submit a copy of such
plan to the advisory council on agriculture.
8. If the commissioner certifies the plan of the proposed district
pursuant to subdivision seven of this section, the district shall be
created immediately upon certification.
9. Upon the creation of an agricultural district, the description
thereof, which shall include tax map identification numbers for all
parcels within the district, plus a map delineating the exterior
boundaries of the district in relation to tax parcel boundaries, shall
be filed by the county legislative body with the county clerk, the
county director of real property tax services, and the commissioner. The
commissioner, on petition of the county legislative body, may, for good
cause shown, approve the correction of any errors in materials filed
pursuant to a district creation at any time subsequent to the creation
of any agricultural district.
§ 303-a. Agricultural districts; review. 1. The county legislative
body shall review any district created under section three hundred three
of this article eight years after the date of its creation and at the
end of every eight year period thereafter.
2. In conducting a district review the county legislative body shall:
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a. provide notice of such district review by publishing a notice in a
newspaper having general circulation within the district and by posting
a notice on the home page of the county's website; posting such notice
in at least five conspicuous places within the district; and providing
such notice in writing by first class mail to those municipalities whose
territory encompasses the district. The notice shall identify the
municipalities in which the district is found and the district's total
area; indicate that a map of the district will be on file and open to
public inspection in the office of the county clerk and such other
places as the legislative body deems appropriate; and notify
municipalities and land owners within the district that they may propose
a modification of the district by filing such proposal with the clerk of
the county legislature within thirty days of the publication and posting
and mailing of such notice;
b. direct the county agricultural and farmland protection board to
prepare a report within forty-five days concerning the following:
(1) the nature and status of farming and farm resources within such
district, including the total number of acres of land and the total
number of acres of land in farm operations in the district;
(2) the extent to which the district has achieved its original
objectives;
(3) the extent to which county and local comprehensive plans, policies
and objectives are consistent with and support the district;
(4) the degree of coordination between local laws, ordinances, rules
and regulations that apply to farm operations in such district and their
influence on farming; and
(5) recommendations to continue, terminate or modify such district.
c. hold a public hearing in the following manner:
(1) the hearing shall be held at a place within the district or
otherwise readily accessible to the proposed district;
(2) a notice of public hearing shall be published in a newspaper
having a general circulation within the district and posted on the home
page of the county's website and shall be given in writing by first
class mail to those municipalities whose territories encompass the
district and any proposed modifications to the district; to persons, as
listed on the most recent assessment roll, whose land is the subject of
a proposed modification; and to the commissioner;
(3) the notice of hearing shall contain the following information:
(a) a statement of the time, date and place of the public hearing; and
(b) a description of the district, any proposed modifications and any
recommendations of the county agricultural and farmland protection
board.
3. a. The county legislative body, after receiving the report and
recommendation of the county agricultural and farmland protection board,
and after public hearing, shall make a finding whether the district
should be continued, terminated or modified. If the county legislative
body finds that the district should be terminated, it may do so at the
end of such eight year period by filing a notice of termination with the
county clerk and the commissioner.
b. The county legislative body may adopt any modification of the
district review plan it deems appropriate.
c. If the county legislative body finds that the district should be
continued or modified, it shall submit the district review plan to the
commissioner. The district review plan shall include a description of
the district, including a map delineating the exterior boundaries of the
district which shall conform to tax parcel boundaries; the tax map
Page | 39
identification numbers for every parcel in the district; a copy of the
report of the county agricultural and farmland protection board required
by paragraph b of subdivision two of this section; and a copy of the
testimony given at the public hearing required by paragraph c of
subdivision two of this section or a copy of the minutes of such
hearing.
4. The county legislative body shall complete the review process
described in this section by either terminating, continuing, or
modifying the district on or before the district's anniversary date. The
commissioner may, upon application by the county legislative body and
for good cause shown, extend the period for a district review once for
up to six additional months. If the county legislative body does not
act, or if a modification of a district is rejected by the county
legislative body, the district shall continue as originally constituted,
unless the commissioner, after consultation with the advisory council on
agriculture, terminates such district, by filing a notice thereof with
the county clerk, because the area in the district is no longer
predominantly viable agricultural land.
5. Plan review, certification, correction of any errors and filing
shall be conducted in the same manner prescribed for district creation
in section three hundred three of this article.
§ 303-b. Agricultural districts; inclusion of viable agricultural
land. 1. The legislative body of any county containing a certified
agricultural district shall designate an annual thirty-day period within
which a land owner may submit to such body a request for inclusion of
land which is predominantly viable agricultural land within a certified
agricultural district prior to the county established review period.
Such request shall identify the agricultural district into which the
land is proposed to be included, describe such land, and include the tax
map identification number and relevant portion of the tax map for each
parcel of land to be included.
2. Upon the termination of such thirty-day period, if any requests are
submitted, the county legislative body shall:
a. refer such request or requests to the county agricultural and
farmland protection board, which shall, within thirty days report to the
county legislative body its recommendations as to whether the land to be
included in the agricultural district consists predominantly of "viable
agricultural land" as defined in subdivision seven of section three
hundred one of this article and the inclusion of such land would serve
the public interest by assisting in maintaining a viable agricultural
industry within the district; and
b. publish a notice of public hearing in accordance with subdivision
three of this section.
3. The county legislative body shall hold a public hearing upon giving
notice in the following manner:
a. The notice of public hearing shall contain a statement that one or
more requests for inclusion of predominantly viable agricultural land
within a certified agricultural district have been filed with the county
legislative body pursuant to this section; identify the land, generally,
proposed to be included; indicate the time, date and place of the public
hearing, which shall occur after receipt of the report of the county
agricultural and farmland protection board; and include a statement that
the hearing shall be held to consider the request or requests and
recommendations of the county agricultural and farmland protection
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board.
b. The notice shall be published in a newspaper having a general
circulation within the county and shall be given in writing directly to
those municipalities whose territory encompasses the lands which are
proposed to be included in an agricultural district and to the
commissioner.
4. After the public hearing, the county legislative body shall adopt
or reject the inclusion of the land requested to be included within an
existing certified agricultural district. Such action shall be taken no
later than one hundred twenty days from the termination of the thirty
day period described in subdivision one of this section. Any land to be
added shall consist of whole tax parcels only. Upon the adoption of a
resolution to include predominantly viable agricultural land, in whole
or in part, within an existing certified agricultural district, the
county legislative body shall submit the resolution, together with the
report of the county agricultural and farmland protection board and the
tax map identification numbers and tax maps for each parcel of land to
be included in an agricultural district to the commissioner.
5. Within thirty days after receipt of a resolution to include land
within a district, the commissioner shall certify to the county
legislative body whether the inclusion of predominantly viable
agricultural land as proposed is feasible and shall serve the public
interest by assisting in maintaining a viable agricultural industry
within the district or districts.
6. If the commissioner certifies that the proposed inclusion of
predominantly viable agricultural land within a district is feasible and
in the public interest, the land shall become part of the district
immediately upon such certification.
§ 303-c. Consolidation of agricultural districts. Existing
agricultural districts may be consolidated with an existing district
undergoing review pursuant to and in the same manner prescribed for
district review in section three hundred three-a of this article. The
notice of public hearing required by subdivision two of section three
hundred three-a of this article shall be given in writing by first class
mail to those municipalities whose territories encompass the districts
proposed to be consolidated; and to all persons, as listed on the most
recent assessment roll, whose land is the subject of a proposed
consolidation. In addition to the information required by subdivision
two of section three hundred three-a of this article, the notice of
hearing shall identify the district into which the existing district or
districts will be consolidated and the new anniversary date for the
consolidated district.
§ 304-a. Agricultural assessment values. 1. Agricultural assessment
values shall be calculated and certified annually in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
2. a. The commissioner of agriculture and markets shall establish and
maintain an agricultural land classification system based upon soil
productivity and capability. The agricultural land classification system
shall distinguish between mineral and organic soils. There shall be ten
primary groups of mineral soils and such other subgroups as the
commissioner determines necessary to represent high-lime and low-lime
Page | 41
content. There shall be four groups of organic soils.
b. The land classification system shall be promulgated by rule by the
commissioner following a review of comments and recommendations of the
advisory council on agriculture and after a public hearing. In making
any revisions to the land classification system the commissioner may, in
his or her discretion, conduct a public hearing. The commissioner shall
foster participation by county agricultural and farmland protection
boards, district soil and water conservation committees, and the
cooperative extension service and consult with other state agencies,
appropriate federal agencies, municipalities, the New York state college
of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell university and farm
organizations.
c. The commissioner shall certify to the commissioner of taxation and
finance the soil list developed in accordance with the land
classification system and any revisions thereto.
d. The commissioner shall prepare such materials as may be needed for
the utilization of the land classification system and provide assistance
to landowners and local officials in its use.
3. a. The commissioner of taxation and finance shall annually
calculate a single agricultural assessment value for each of the mineral
and organic soil groups which shall be applied uniformly throughout the
state. A base agricultural assessment value shall be separately
calculated for mineral and organic soil groups in accordance with the
procedure set forth in subdivision four of this section and shall be
assigned as the agricultural assessment value of the highest grade
mineral and organic soil group.
b. The agricultural assessment values for the remaining mineral soil
groups shall be the product of the base agricultural assessment value
and a percentage, derived from the productivity measurements determined
for each soil and related soil group in conjunction with the land
classification system, as follows:
Percentage of
Base Agricultural
Mineral Soil Group Assessment Value
1A 100
1B 89
2A 89
2B 79
3A 79
3B 68
4A 68
4B 58
5A 58
5B 47
6A 47
6B 37
7 37
8 26
9 16
10 5
c. The agricultural assessment values for the remaining organic soil
groups shall be the product of the base agricultural assessment value
and a percentage, as follows:
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Percentage of
Base Agricultural
Organic Soil Group Assessment Value
A 100
B 65
C 55
D 35
d. The agricultural assessment value for organic soil group A shall be
two times the base agricultural assessment value calculated for mineral
soil group 1A.
e. The agricultural assessment value for farm woodland shall be the
same as that calculated for mineral soil group seven.
f. Where trees or vines used for the production of fruit are located
on land used in agricultural production, the value of such trees and
vines, and the value of all posts, wires and trellises used for the
production of fruit, shall be considered to be part of the agricultural
assessment value of such land.
g. The agricultural assessment value for land and waters used in
aquacultural enterprises shall be the same as that calculated for
mineral soil group 1A.
4. a. The base agricultural assessment value shall be the average
capitalized value of production per acre for the eight year period
ending in the second year preceding the year for which the agricultural
assessment values are certified. The capitalized value of production per
acre shall be calculated by dividing the product of the value of
production per acre and the percentage of net profit by a capitalization
rate of ten percent, representing an assumed investment return rate of
eight percent and an assumed real property tax rate of two percent.
b. The value of production per acre shall be the value of production
divided by the number of acres harvested in New York state.
c. The percentage of net profit shall be adjusted net farm income
divided by realized gross farm income.
(i) Adjusted net farm income shall be the sum of net farm income,
taxes on farm real estate and the amount of mortgage interest debt
attributable to farmland, less a management charge of one percent of
realized gross farm income plus seven percent of adjusted production
expenses.
(ii) The amount of mortgage interest debt attributable to farmland
shall be the product of the interest on mortgage debt and the percentage
of farm real estate value attributable to land.
(iii) The percentage of farm real estate value attributable to land
shall be the difference between farm real estate value and farm
structure value divided by farm real estate value.
(iv) Adjusted production expenses shall be production expenses, less
the sum of the taxes on farm real estate and the interest on mortgage
debt.
d. The following data, required for calculations pursuant to this
subdivision, shall be as published by the United States department of
agriculture for all farming in New York state:
(i) Farm real estate value shall be the total value of farmland and
buildings, including improvements.
(ii) Farm structure value shall be the total value of farm buildings,
including improvements.
Page | 43
(iii) Interest on mortgage debt shall be the total interest paid on
farm real estate debt.
(iv) Net farm income shall be realized gross income less production
expenses, as adjusted for change in inventory.
(v) Production expenses shall be the total cost of production.
(vi) Realized gross income shall be the total of cash receipts from
farm marketings, government payments, nonmoney income and other farm
income.
(vii) Taxes on farm real estate shall be the total real property taxes
on farmland and buildings, including improvements.
(viii) Number of acres harvested including all reported crops.
(ix) Value of production shall be the total estimated value of all
reported crops.
e. In the event that the data required for calculation pursuant to
this subdivision is not published by the United States department of
agriculture or is incomplete, such required data shall be obtained from
the New York state department of agriculture and markets.
f. Upon completion of each annual calculation of agricultural
assessment values, the commissioner of taxation and finance shall
publish an annual report, which shall include a schedule of values,
citations to data sources and presentation of all calculations.
The commissioner of taxation and finance shall thereupon certify the
schedule of agricultural assessment values and shall transmit a schedule
of such certified values to each assessor. Beginning in the year two
thousand six and every five years thereafter, the commissioner of
taxation and finance shall transmit copies of such annual reports for
the five years previous to such transmittal, to the governor and
legislature, the advisory council on agriculture, and other appropriate
state agencies and interested parties.
g. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the
contrary, in no event shall the change in the base agricultural
assessment value for any given year exceed two percent of the base
agricultural assessment value of the preceding year.
5. a. In carrying out their responsibilities under this section, the
commissioner of taxation and finance and the commissioner shall keep the
advisory council on agriculture fully apprised on matters relating to
its duties and responsibilities.
b. In doing so, the commissioner of taxation and finance and the
commissioner shall provide, in a timely manner, any materials needed by
the advisory council on agriculture to carry out its responsibilities
under this section.
§ 304-b. Agricultural district data reporting. 1. The commissioner
shall file a written report with the governor and the legislature on
January first, two thousand eight and biennially thereafter, covering
each prior period of two years, concerning the status of the
agricultural districts program. Such report shall include, but not be
limited to, the total number of agricultural districts, the total number
of acres in agricultural districts, a list of the counties that have
established county agricultural and farmland protection plans, and a
summary of the agricultural protection grants program.
2. Between report due dates, the commissioner shall maintain the
necessary records and data required to satisfy such report requirements
and to satisfy information requests received from the governor and the
Page | 44
legislature between such report due dates.
§ 305. Agricultural districts; effects. 1. Agricultural assessments.
a. Any owner of land used in agricultural production within an
agricultural district shall be eligible for an agricultural assessment
pursuant to this section. If an applicant rents land from another for
use in conjunction with the applicant's land for the production for sale
of crops, livestock or livestock products, the gross sales value of such
products produced on such rented land shall be added to the gross sales
value of such products produced on the land of the applicant for
purposes of determining eligibility for an agricultural assessment on
the land of the applicant. Such assessment shall be granted only upon an
annual application by the owner of such land on a form prescribed by the
commissioner of taxation and finance; provided, however, that after the
initial grant of agricultural assessment the annual application shall be
on a form prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance and
shall consist of only a certification by the landowner that the
landowner continues to meet the eligibility requirements for receiving
an agricultural assessment and seeks an agricultural assessment for the
same acreage that initially received an agricultural assessment. The
landowner shall maintain records documenting such eligibility which
shall be provided to the assessor upon request. The landowner must apply
for agricultural assessment for any change in acreage, whether land is
added or removed, after the initial grant of agricultural assessment.
Any new owner of the land who wishes to receive an agricultural
assessment shall make an initial application for such assessment. Such
applications shall be on a form prescribed by the commissioner of
taxation and finance. The applicant shall furnish to the assessor such
information as the commissioner of taxation and finance shall require,
including classification information prepared for the applicant's land
or water bodies used in agricultural production by the soil and water
conservation district office within the county, and information
demonstrating the eligibility for agricultural assessment of any land
used in conjunction with rented land as specified in paragraph b of
subdivision four of section three hundred one of this article. Such
application shall be filed with the assessor of the assessing unit on or
before the appropriate taxable status date; provided, however, that (i)
in the year of a revaluation or update of assessments, as those terms
are defined in section one hundred two of the real property tax law, the
application may be filed with the assessor no later than the thirtieth
day prior to the day by which the tentative assessment roll is required
to be filed by law; or (ii) an application for such an assessment may be
filed with the assessor of the assessing unit after the appropriate
taxable status date but not later than the last date on which a petition
with respect to complaints of assessment may be filed, where failure to
file a timely application resulted from: (a) a death of the applicant's
spouse, child, parent, brother or sister, (b) an illness of the
applicant or of the applicant's spouse, child, parent, brother or
sister, which actually prevents the applicant from filing on a timely
basis, as certified by a licensed physician, or (c) the occurrence of a
natural disaster, including, but not limited to, a flood, or the
destruction of such applicant's residence, barn or other farm building
by wind, fire or flood. If the assessor is satisfied that the applicant
is entitled to an agricultural assessment, the assessor shall approve
Page | 45
the application and the land shall be assessed pursuant to this section.
Not less than ten days prior to the date for hearing complaints in
relation to assessments, the assessor shall mail to each applicant, who
has included with the application at least one self-addressed, pre-paid
envelope, a notice of the approval or denial of the application. Such
notice shall be on a form prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and
finance which shall indicate the manner in which the total assessed
value is apportioned among the various portions of the property subject
to agricultural assessment and those other portions of the property not
eligible for agricultural assessment as determined for the tentative
assessment roll and the latest final assessment roll. Failure to mail
any such notice or failure of the owner to receive the same shall not
prevent the levy, collection and enforcement of the payment of the taxes
on such real property.
b. That portion of the value of land utilized for agricultural
production within an agricultural district which represents an excess
above the agricultural assessment as determined in accordance with this
subdivision shall not be subject to real property taxation. Such excess
amount if any shall be entered on the assessment roll in the manner
prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance.
c. (i) The assessor shall utilize the agricultural assessment values
per acre certified pursuant to section three hundred four-a of this
article in determining the amount of the assessment of lands eligible
for agricultural assessments by multiplying those values by the number
of acres of land utilized for agricultural production and adjusting such
result by application of the latest state equalization rate or a special
equalization rate as may be established and certified by the
commissioner of taxation and finance for the purpose of computing the
agricultural assessment pursuant to this paragraph. This resulting
amount shall be the agricultural assessment for such lands.
(ii) Where the latest state equalization rate exceeds one hundred, or
where a special equalization rate which would otherwise be established
for the purposes of this section would exceed one hundred, a special
equalization rate of one hundred shall be established and certified by
the commissioner for the purpose of this section.
(iii) Where a special equalization rate has been established and
certified by the commissioner for the purposes of this paragraph, the
assessor is directed and authorized to recompute the agricultural
assessment on the assessment roll by applying such special equalization
rate instead of the latest state equalization rate, and to make the
appropriate corrections on the assessment roll, subject to the
provisions of title two of article twelve of the real property tax law.
d. (i) If land within an agricultural district which received an
agricultural assessment is converted parcels, as described on the
assessment roll which include land so converted shall be subject to
payments equalling five times the taxes saved in the last year in which
the land benefited from an agricultural assessment, plus interest of six
percent per year compounded annually for each year in which an
agricultural assessment was granted, not exceeding five years. The
amount of taxes saved for the last year in which the land benefited from
an agricultural assessment shall be determined by applying the
applicable tax rates to the excess amount of assessed valuation of such
land over its agricultural assessment as set forth on the last
assessment roll which indicates such an excess. If only a portion of a
parcel as described on the assessment roll is converted, the assessor
shall apportion the assessment and agricultural assessment attributable
Page | 46
to the converted portion, as determined for the last assessment roll for
which the assessment of such portion exceeded its agricultural
assessment. The difference between the apportioned assessment and the
apportioned agricultural assessment shall be the amount upon which
payments shall be determined. Payments shall be added by or on behalf of
each taxing jurisdiction to the taxes levied on the assessment roll
prepared on the basis of the first taxable status date on which the
assessor considers the land to have been converted; provided, however,
that no payments shall be imposed if the last assessment roll upon which
the property benefited from an agricultural assessment, was more than
five years prior to the year for which the assessment roll upon which
payments would otherwise be levied is prepared.
(ii) Whenever a conversion occurs, the owner shall notify the assessor
within ninety days of the date such conversion is commenced. If the
landowner fails to make such notification within the ninety day period,
the assessing unit, by majority vote of the governing body, may impose a
penalty on behalf of the assessing unit of up to two times the total
payments owed, but not to exceed a maximum total penalty of one thousand
dollars in addition to any payments owed.
(iii) (a) An assessor who determines that there is liability for
payments and any penalties assessed pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of
this paragraph shall notify the landowner by mail of such liability at
least ten days prior to the date for hearing complaints in relation to
assessments. Such notice shall indicate the property to which payments
apply and describe how the payments shall be determined. Failure to
provide such notice shall not affect the levy, collection or enforcement
or payment of payments.
(b) Liability for payments shall be subject to administrative and
judicial review as provided by law for review of assessments.
(iv) If such land or any portion thereof is converted to a use other
than for agricultural production by virtue of oil, gas or wind
exploration, development, or extraction activity or by virtue of a
taking by eminent domain or other involuntary proceeding other than a
tax sale, the land or portion so converted shall not be subject to
payments. If the land so converted constitutes only a portion of a
parcel described on the assessment roll, the assessor shall apportion
the assessment, and adjust the agricultural assessment attributable to
the portion of the parcel not subject to such conversion by subtracting
the proportionate part of the agricultural assessment attributable to
the portion so converted. Provided further that land within an
agricultural district and eligible for an agricultural assessment shall
not be considered to have been converted to a use other than for
agricultural production solely due to the conveyance of oil, gas or wind
rights associated with that land.
(v) An assessor who imposes any such payments shall annually, and
within forty-five days following the date on which the final assessment
roll is required to be filed, report such payments to the commissioner
of taxation and finance on a form prescribed by the commissioner.
(vi) The assessing unit, by majority vote of the governing body, may
impose a minimum payment amount, not to exceed five hundred dollars.
(vii) The purchase of land in fee by the city of New York for
watershed protection purposes or the conveyance of a conservation
easement by the city of New York to the department of environmental
conservation which prohibits future use of the land for agricultural
purposes shall not be a conversion of parcels and no payment shall be
due under this section.
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e. Notwithstanding any inconsistent general, special or local law to
the contrary, if a natural disaster, act of God, or continued adverse
weather conditions shall destroy the agricultural production and such
fact is certified by the cooperative extension service and, as a result,
such production does not produce an average gross sales value of ten
thousand dollars or more, the owner may nevertheless qualify for an
agricultural assessment provided the owner shall substantiate in such
manner as prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance that
the agricultural production initiated on such land would have produced
an average gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or more but for the
natural disaster, act of God or continued adverse weather conditions.
3. Policy of state agencies. It shall be the policy of all state
agencies to encourage the maintenance of viable farming in agricultural
districts and their administrative regulations and procedures shall be
modified to this end insofar as is consistent with the promotion of
public health and safety and with the provisions of any federal
statutes, standards, criteria, rules, regulations, or policies, and any
other requirements of federal agencies, including provisions applicable
only to obtaining federal grants, loans, or other funding.
4. Limitation on the exercise of eminent domain and other public
acquisitions, and on the advance of public funds. a. Any agency of the
state, any public benefit corporation or any local government which
intends to acquire land or any interest therein, provided that the
acquisition from any one actively operated farm within the district
would be in excess of one acre or that the total acquisition within the
district would be in excess of ten acres, or which intends to construct,
or advance a grant, loan, interest subsidy or other funds within a
district to construct, dwellings, commercial or industrial facilities,
or water or sewer facilities to serve non-farm structures, shall use all
practicable means in undertaking such action to realize the policy and
goals set forth in this article, and shall act and choose alternatives
which, consistent with social, economic and other essential
considerations, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize or avoid
adverse impacts on agriculture in order to sustain a viable farm
enterprise or enterprises within the district. The adverse agricultural
impacts to be minimized or avoided shall include impacts revealed in the
notice of intent process described in this subdivision.
b. The agency, corporation or government proposing the action shall
also, at least sixty-five days prior to such acquisition, construction
or advance of public funds, file a notice of intent with the
commissioner and the county agricultural and farmland protection board.
Such notice shall include a detailed agricultural impact statement
setting forth the following:
(i) a detailed description of the proposed action and its agricultural
setting;
(ii) the agricultural impact of the proposed action including
short-term and long-term effects;
(iii) any adverse agricultural effects which cannot be avoided should
the proposed action be implemented;
(iv) alternatives to the proposed action;
(v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of agricultural
resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be
implemented;
(vi) mitigation measures proposed to minimize the adverse impact of
the proposed action on the continuing viability of a farm enterprise or
enterprises within the district;
Page | 48
(vii) any aspects of the proposed action which would encourage
non-farm development, where applicable and appropriate; and
(viii) such other information as the commissioner may require.
The commissioner shall promptly determine whether the notice is
complete or incomplete. If the commissioner does not issue such
determination within thirty days, the notice shall be deemed complete.
If the notice is determined to be incomplete, the commissioner shall
notify the party proposing the action in writing of the reasons for that
determination. Any new submission shall commence a new period for
department review for purposes of determining completeness.
c. The provisions of paragraph b of this subdivision shall not apply
and shall be deemed waived by the owner of the land to be acquired where
such owner signs a document to such effect and provides a copy to the
commissioner.
d. Upon notice from the commissioner that he or she has accepted a
notice as complete, the county agricultural and farmland protection
board may, within thirty days, review the proposed action and its
effects on farm operations and agricultural resources within the
district, and report its findings and recommendations to the
commissioner and to the party proposing the action in the case of
actions proposed by a state agency or public benefit corporation, and
additionally to the county legislature in the case of actions proposed
by local government agencies.
e. Upon receipt and acceptance of a notice, the commissioner shall
thereupon forward a copy of such notice to the commissioner of
environmental conservation and the advisory council on agriculture. The
commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of environmental
conservation and the advisory council on agriculture, within forty-five
days of the acceptance of a notice, shall review the proposed action and
make an initial determination whether such action would have an
unreasonably adverse effect on the continuing viability of a farm
enterprise or enterprises within the district, or state environmental
plans, policies and objectives.
If the commissioner so determines, he or she may (i) issue an order
within the forty-five day period directing the state agency, public
benefit corporation or local government not to take such action for an
additional period of sixty days immediately following such forty-five
day period; and (ii) review the proposed action to determine whether any
reasonable and practicable alternative or alternatives exist which would
minimize or avoid the adverse impact on agriculture in order to sustain
a viable farm enterprise or enterprises within the district.
The commissioner may hold a public hearing concerning such proposed
action at a place within the district or otherwise easily accessible to
the district upon notice in a newspaper having a general circulation
within the district and posted on the home page of the department's
website, and individual notice, in writing by first class mail, to the
municipalities whose territories encompass the district, the
commissioner of environmental conservation, the advisory council on
agriculture and the state agency, public benefit corporation or local
government proposing to take such action. On or before the conclusion of
such additional sixty day period, the commissioner shall report his or
her findings to the agency, corporation or government proposing to take
such action, to any public agency having the power of review of or
approval of such action, and, in a manner conducive to the wide
dissemination of such findings, to the public. If the commissioner
concludes that a reasonable and practicable alternative or alternatives
Page | 49
exist which would minimize or avoid the adverse impact of the proposed
action, he or she shall propose that such alternative or alternatives be
accepted. If the agency, corporation or government proposing the action
accepts the commissioner's proposal, then the requirements of the notice
of intent filing shall be deemed fulfilled. If the agency, corporation
or government rejects the commissioner's proposal, then it shall provide
the commissioner with reasons for rejecting such proposal and a detailed
comparison between its proposed action and the commissioner's
alternative or alternatives.
f. At least ten days before commencing an action which has been the
subject of a notice of intent filing, the agency, corporation or
government shall certify to the commissioner that it has made an
explicit finding that the requirements of this subdivision have been
met, and that consistent with social, economic and other essential
considerations, to the maximum extent practicable, adverse agricultural
impacts revealed in the notice of intent process will be minimized or
avoided. Such certification shall set forth the reasons in support of
the finding.
g. The commissioner may request the attorney general to bring an
action to enjoin any such agency, corporation or government from
violating any of the provisions of this subdivision.
h. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no
solid waste management facility shall be sited on land in agricultural
production which is located within an agricultural district, or land in
agricultural production that qualifies for and is receiving an
agricultural assessment pursuant to section three hundred six of this
article. Nothing contained herein, however, shall be deemed to prohibit
siting when:
(i) The owner of such land has entered into a written agreement which
shall indicate his consent for site consideration; or
(ii) The applicant for a permit has made a commitment in the permit
application to fund a farm land protection conservation easement within
a reasonable proximity to the proposed project in an amount not less
than the dollar value of any such farm land purchased for the project;
or
(iii) The commissioner in concurrence with the commissioner of
environmental conservation has determined that any such agricultural
land to be taken, constitutes less than five percent of the project
site.
For purposes of this paragraph, "solid waste management facility"
shall have the same meaning as provided in title seven of article
twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law, but shall not
include solid waste transfer stations or land upon which sewage sludge
is applied, and determinations regarding agricultural district
boundaries and agricultural assessments will be based on those in effect
as of the date an initial determination is made, pursuant to article
eight of the environmental conservation law, as to whether an
environmental impact statement needs to be prepared for the proposed
project.
i. This subdivision shall not apply to any emergency project which is
immediately necessary for the protection of life or property or to any
project or proceeding to which the department is or has been a statutory
party.
j. The commissioner may bring an action to enforce any mitigation
measures proposed by a public benefit corporation or a local government,
and accepted by the commissioner, pursuant to a notice of intent filing,
Page | 50
to minimize or avoid adverse agricultural impacts from the proposed
action.
5. Limitation on power to impose benefit assessments, special ad
valorem levies or other rates or fees in certain improvement districts
or benefit areas. Within improvement districts or areas deemed benefited
by municipal improvements including, but not limited to, improvements
for sewer, water, lighting, non-farm drainage, solid waste disposal,
including those solid waste management facilities established pursuant
to section two hundred twenty-six-b of the county law, or other landfill
operations, no benefit assessments, special ad valorem levies or other
rates or fees charged for such improvements may be imposed on land used
primarily for agricultural production within an agricultural district on
any basis, except a lot not exceeding one-half acre surrounding any
dwelling or non-farm structure located on said land, nor on any farm
structure located in an agricultural district unless such structure
benefits directly from the service of such improvement district or
benefited area; provided, however, that if such benefit assessments, ad
valorem levies or other rates or fees were imposed prior to the
formation of the agricultural district, then such benefit assessments,
ad valorem levies or other rates or fees shall continue to be imposed on
such land or farm structure.
6. Use of assessment for certain purposes. The governing body of a
fire, fire protection, or ambulance district for which a benefit
assessment or a special ad valorem levy is made, may adopt a resolution
to provide that the assessment determined pursuant to subdivision one of
this section for such property shall be used for the benefit assessment
or special ad valorem levy of such fire, fire protection, or ambulance
district.
7. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, that portion
of the value of land which is used solely for the purpose of replanting
or crop expansion as part of an orchard, vineyard, or hopyard shall be
exempt from real property taxation for a period of six successive years
following the date of such replanting or crop expansion beginning on the
first eligible taxable status date following such replanting or
expansion provided the following conditions are met:
a. the land used for crop expansion or replanting must be a part of an
existing orchard, vineyard, or hopyard which is located on land used in
agricultural production within an agricultural district or such land
must be part of an existing orchard, vineyard, or hopyard which is
eligible for an agricultural assessment pursuant to this section or
section three hundred six of this article where the owner of such land
has filed an annual application for an agricultural assessment;
b. the land eligible for such real property tax exemption shall not in
any one year exceed twenty percent of the total acreage of such orchard,
vineyard, or hopyard which is located on land used in agricultural
production within an agricultural district or twenty percent of the
total acreage of such orchard, vineyard, or hopyard eligible for an
agricultural assessment pursuant to this section and section three
hundred six of this article where the owner of such land has filed an
annual application for an agricultural assessment;
c. the land eligible for such real property tax exemption must be
maintained as land used in agricultural production as part of such
orchard, vineyard, or hopyard for each year such exemption is granted;
and
d. when the land used for the purpose of replanting or crop expansion
as part of an orchard, vineyard, or hopyard is located within an area
Page | 51
which has been declared by the governor to be a disaster emergency in a
year in which such tax exemption is sought and in a year in which such
land meets all other eligibility requirements for such tax exemption set
forth in this subdivision, the maximum twenty percent total acreage
restriction set forth in paragraph b of this subdivision may be exceeded
for such year and for any remaining successive years, provided, however,
that the land eligible for such real property tax exemption shall not
exceed the total acreage damaged or destroyed by such disaster in such
year or the total acreage which remains damaged or destroyed in any
remaining successive year. The total acreage for which such exemption is
sought pursuant to this paragraph shall be subject to verification by
the commissioner or his designee.
§ 305-a. Coordination of local planning and land use decision-making
with the agricultural districts program. 1. Policy of local governments.
a. Local governments, when exercising their powers to enact and
administer comprehensive plans and local laws, ordinances, rules or
regulations, shall exercise these powers in such manner as may realize
the policy and goals set forth in this article, and shall not
unreasonably restrict or regulate farm operations within agricultural
districts in contravention of the purposes of this article unless it can
be shown that the public health or safety is threatened.
b. Upon the request of any municipality, farm owner or operator, the
commissioner shall render an opinion to the appropriate local government
officials, as to whether farm operations would be unreasonably
restricted or regulated by proposed changes in local land use
regulations, ordinances or local laws pertaining to agricultural
practices and to the appropriate local land use enforcement officials
administering local land use regulations, ordinances, or local laws or
reviewing a permit pertaining to agricultural practices.
c. The commissioner, upon his or her own initiative or upon the
receipt of a complaint from a person within an agricultural district,
may bring an action to enforce the provisions of this subdivision.
§ 305-b. Agricultural data statement. 1. Submission, evaluation. Any
application for a special use permit, site plan approval, use variance,
or subdivision approval requiring municipal review and approval by a
planning board, zoning board of appeals, town board, or village board of
trustees pursuant to article sixteen of the town law or article seven of
the village law, that would occur on property within an agricultural
district containing a farm operation or on property with boundaries
within five hundred feet of a farm operation located in an agricultural
district, shall include an agricultural data statement. The planning
board, zoning board of appeals, town board, or village board of trustees
shall evaluate and consider the agricultural data statement in its
review of the possible impacts of the proposed project upon the
functioning of farm operations within such agricultural district. The
information required by an agricultural data statement may be included
as part of any other application form required by local law, ordinance
or regulation.
2. Notice provision. Upon the receipt of such application by the
planning board, zoning board of appeals, town board, or village board of
trustees, the clerk of such board shall mail written notice of such
Page | 52
application to the owners of land as identified by the applicant in the
agricultural data statement. The notice shall include a description of
the proposed project and its location, and may be sent in conjunction
with any other notice required by state or local law, ordinance, rule or
regulation for the project. The cost of mailing the notice shall be
borne by the applicant.
3. Content. An agricultural data statement shall include the following
information: the name and address of the applicant; a description of the
proposed project and its location; the name and address of any owner of
land within the agricultural district, which land contains farm
operations and is located within five hundred feet of the boundary of
the property upon which the project is proposed; and a tax map or other
map showing the site of the proposed project relative to the location of
farm operations identified in the agricultural data statement.
§ 305-c. Review of proposed rules and regulations of state agencies
affecting the agricultural industry. Upon request of the state advisory
council on agriculture, or upon his or her own initiative, the
commissioner may review and comment upon a proposed rule or regulation
by another state agency which may have an adverse impact on agriculture
and farm operations in this state, and file such comment with the
proposing agency and the administrative regulations review commission.
Each comment shall be in sufficient detail to advise the proposing
agency of the adverse impact on agriculture and farm operations and the
recommended modifications. The commissioner shall prepare a status
report of any actions taken in accordance with this section and include
it in the department's annual report.
§ 306. Agricultural lands outside of districts; agricultural
assessments. 1. Any owner of land used in agricultural production
outside of an agricultural district shall be eligible for an
agricultural assessment as provided herein. If an applicant rents land
from another for use in conjunction with the applicant's land for the
production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products, the gross
sales value of such products on such rented land shall be added to the
gross sales value of such products produced on the land of the applicant
for purposes of determining eligibility for an agricultural assessment
on the land of the applicant.
Such assessment shall be granted pursuant to paragraphs a, b and f of
subdivision one of section three hundred five of this article as if such
land were in an agricultural district, provided the landowner annually
submits to the assessor an application for an agricultural assessment on
or before the taxable status date. In the year of a revaluation or
update of assessments, as those terms are defined in section one hundred
two of the real property tax law, the application may be filed with the
assessor no later than the thirtieth day prior to the day by which the
tentative assessment roll is required to be filed by law. Nothing
therein shall be construed to limit an applicant's discretion to
withhold from such application any land, or portion thereof, contained
within a single operation.
2. a. (i) If land which received an agricultural assessment pursuant
to this section is converted at any time within eight years from the
time an agricultural assessment was last received, such conversion shall
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subject the land so converted to payments in compensation for the prior
benefits of agricultural assessments. The amount of the payments shall
be equal to five times the taxes saved in the last year in which land
benefited from an agricultural assessment, plus interest of six percent
per year compounded annually for each year in which an agricultural
assessment was granted, not exceeding five years.
(ii) The amount of taxes saved for the last year in which the land
benefited from an agricultural assessment shall be determined by
applying the applicable tax rates to the amount of assessed valuation of
such land in excess of the agricultural assessment of such land as set
forth on the last assessment roll which indicates such an excess. If
only a portion of such land as described on the assessment roll is
converted, the assessor shall apportion the assessment and agricultural
assessment attributable to the converted portion, as determined for the
last assessment roll on which the assessment of such portion exceeded
its agricultural assessment. The difference between the apportioned
assessment and the apportioned agricultural assessment shall be the
amount upon which payments shall be determined. Payments shall be levied
in the same manner as other taxes, by or on behalf of each taxing
jurisdiction on the assessment roll prepared on the basis of the first
taxable status date on which the assessor considers the land to have
been converted; provided, however, that no payments shall be imposed if
the last assessment roll upon which the property benefited from an
agricultural assessment, was more than eight years prior to the year for
which the assessment roll upon which payments would otherwise be levied
is prepared.
(iii) Whenever a conversion occurs, the owner shall notify the
assessor within ninety days of the date such conversion is commenced. If
the landowner fails to make such notification within the ninety day
period, the assessing unit, by majority vote of the governing body, may
impose a penalty on behalf of the assessing unit of up to two times the
total payments owed, but not to exceed a maximum total penalty of one
thousand dollars in addition to any payments owed.
b. (i) An assessor who determines that there is liability for payments
and any penalties pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph shall
notify the landowner of such liability at least ten days prior to the
day for hearing of complaints in relation to assessments. Such notice
shall specify the area subject to payments and shall describe how such
payments shall be determined. Failure to provide such notice shall not
affect the levy, collection, or enforcement of payments.
(ii) Liability for payments shall be subject to administrative and
judicial review as provided by law for the review of assessments.
(iii) An assessor who imposes any such payments shall annually, and
within forty-five days following the date on which the final assessment
roll is required to be filed, report such payments to the commissioner
of taxation and finance on a form prescribed by the commissioner.
(iv) The assessing unit, by majority vote of the government body, may
impose a minimum payment amount, not to exceed five hundred dollars.
c. If such land or any portion thereof is converted by virtue of oil,
gas or wind exploration, development, or extraction activity or by
virtue of a taking by eminent domain or other involuntary proceeding
other than a tax sale, the land or portion so converted shall not be
subject to payments. If land so converted constitutes only a portion of
a parcel described on the assessment roll, the assessor shall apportion
the assessment, and adjust the agricultural assessment attributable to
the portion of the parcel not subject to such conversion by subtracting
Page | 54
the proportionate part of the agricultural assessment attributable to
the portion so converted. Provided further that land outside an
agricultural district and eligible for an agricultural assessment
pursuant to this section shall not be considered to have been converted
to a use other than for agricultural production solely due to the
conveyance of oil, gas or wind rights associated with that land.
d. The purchase of land in fee by the city of New York for watershed
protection purposes or the conveyance of a conservation easement by the
city of New York to the department of environmental conservation which
prohibits future use of the land for agricultural purposes shall not be
a conversion of parcels and no payment for the prior benefits of
agricultural assessments shall be due under this section.
3. Upon the inclusion of such agricultural lands in an agricultural
district formed pursuant to section three hundred three, the provisions
of section three hundred five shall be controlling.
4. A payment levied pursuant to subparagraph (i) of paragraph a of
subdivision two of this section shall be a lien on the entire parcel
containing the converted land, notwithstanding that less than the entire
parcel was converted.
5. Use of assessment for certain purposes. The governing body of a
water, lighting, sewer, sanitation, fire, fire protection, or ambulance
district for whose benefit a special assessment or a special ad valorem
levy is imposed, may adopt a resolution to provide that the assessments
determined pursuant to subdivision one of this section for property
within the district shall be used for the special assessment or special
ad valorem levy of such special district.
§ 307. Promulgation of rules and regulations. The commissioner of
taxation and finance and the commissioner are each empowered to
promulgate such rules and regulations and to prescribe such forms as
each shall deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article.
Where a document or any other paper or information is required, by such
rules and regulations, or by any provision of this article, to be filed
with, or by, a county clerk or any other local official, such clerk or
other local official may file such document, paper, or information as he
or she deems proper, but shall also file or record it in any manner
directed by the commissioner of taxation and finance, by rule or
regulation. In promulgating such a rule or regulation, such commissioner
shall consider, among any other relevant factors, the need for security
of land titles, the requirement that purchasers of land know of all
potential tax and penalty liabilities, and the desirability that the
searching of titles not be further complicated by the establishment of
new sets of record books.
§ 308. Right to farm. 1. a. The commissioner shall, in consultation
with the state advisory council on agriculture, issue opinions upon
request from any person as to whether particular agricultural practices
are sound.
b. Sound agricultural practices refer to those practices necessary for
the on-farm production, preparation and marketing of agricultural
commodities. Examples of activities which entail practices the
commissioner may consider include, but are not limited to, operation of
farm equipment; proper use of agricultural chemicals and other crop
Page | 55
protection methods; direct sale to consumers of agricultural commodities
or foods containing agricultural commodities produced on-farm;
agricultural tourism; "timber operation," as defined in subdivision
fourteen of section three hundred one of this article and construction
and use of farm structures. The commissioner shall consult appropriate
state agencies and any guidelines recommended by the advisory council on
agriculture. The commissioner may consult as appropriate, the New York
state college of agriculture and life sciences and the U.S.D.A. natural
resources conservation service, and provide such information, after the
issuance of a formal opinion, to the municipality in which the
agricultural practice being evaluated is located. The commissioner shall
also consider whether the agricultural practices are conducted by a farm
owner or operator as part of his or her participation in the AEM program
as set forth in article eleven-A of this chapter. Such practices shall
be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
2. Upon the issuance of an opinion pursuant to this section, the
commissioner shall publish a notice in a newspaper having a general
circulation in the area surrounding the practice and notice shall be
given in writing to the owner of the property on which the practice is
conducted and any adjoining property owners. The opinion of the
commissioner shall be final, unless within thirty days after publication
of the notice a person affected thereby institutes a proceeding to
review the opinion in the manner provided by article seventy-eight of
the civil practice law and rules.
3. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, on any land in an
agricultural district created pursuant to section three hundred three or
land used in agricultural production subject to an agricultural
assessment pursuant to section three hundred six of this article, an
agricultural practice shall not constitute a private nuisance, when an
action is brought by a person, provided such agricultural practice
constitutes a sound agricultural practice pursuant to an opinion issued
upon request by the commissioner. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prohibit an aggrieved party from recovering damages for
personal injury or wrongful death.
4. The commissioner, in consultation with the state advisory council
on agriculture, shall issue an opinion within thirty days upon request
from any person as to whether particular land uses are agricultural in
nature. Such land use decisions shall be evaluated on a case-by-case
basis.
5. The commissioner shall develop and make available to prospective
grantors and purchasers of real property located partially or wholly
within any agricultural district in this state and to the general
public, practical information related to the right to farm as set forth
in this article including, but not limited to right to farm disclosure
requirements established pursuant to section three hundred ten of this
article and section three hundred thirty-three-c of the real property
law.
§ 308-a. Fees and expenses in certain private nuisance actions. 1.
Definitions. For purposes of this section:
a. "Action" means any civil action brought by a person in which a
private nuisance is alleged to be due to an agricultural practice on any
land in an agricultural district or subject to agricultural assessments
Page | 56
pursuant to section three hundred three or three hundred six of this
article, respectively.
b. "Fees and other expenses" means the reasonable expenses of expert
witnesses, the reasonable cost of any study, analysis, consultation with
experts, and like expenses, and reasonable attorney fees, including fees
for work performed by law students or paralegals under the supervision
of an attorney, incurred in connection with the defense of any cause of
action for private nuisance which is alleged as part of a civil action
brought by a person.
c. "Final judgment" means a judgment that is final and not appealable,
and settlement.
d. "Prevailing party" means a defendant in a civil action brought by a
person, in which a private nuisance is alleged to be due to an
agricultural practice, where the defendant prevails in whole or in
substantial part on the private nuisance cause of action.
2. Fees and other expenses in certain private nuisance actions. a.
When awarded. In addition to costs, disbursements and additional
allowances awarded pursuant to sections eight thousand two hundred one
through eight thousand two hundred four and eight thousand three hundred
one through eight thousand three hundred three-a of the civil practice
law and rules, and except as otherwise specifically provided by statute,
a court shall award to a prevailing party, other than the plaintiff,
fees and other expenses incurred by such party in connection with the
defense of any cause of action for private nuisance alleged to be due to
an agricultural practice, provided such agricultural practice
constitutes a sound agricultural practice pursuant to an opinion issued
by the commissioner under section three hundred eight of this article,
prior to the start of any trial of the action or settlement of such
action, unless the court finds that the position of the plaintiff was
substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award
unjust. Fees shall be determined pursuant to prevailing market rates for
the kind and quality of the services furnished, except that fees and
expenses may not be awarded to a party for any portion of the litigation
in which the party has unreasonably protracted the proceedings.
b. Application for fees. A party seeking an award of fees and other
expenses shall, within thirty days of final judgment in the action,
submit to the court an application which sets forth (i) the facts
supporting the claim that the party is a prevailing party and is
eligible to receive an award under this section, (ii) the amount sought,
and (iii) an itemized statement from every attorney or expert witness
for which fees or expenses are sought stating the actual time expended
and the rate at which such fees and other expenses are claimed.
3. Interest. If the plaintiff appeals an award made pursuant to this
section and the award is affirmed in whole or in part, interest shall be
paid on the amount of the award. Such interest shall run from the date
of the award through the day before the date of the affirmance.
4. Applicability. a. Nothing contained in this section shall be
construed to alter or modify the provisions of the civil practice law
and rules where applicable to actions other than actions as defined by
this section.
b. Nothing contained in this section shall affect or preclude the
right of any party to recover fees or other expenses authorized by
common law or by any other statute, law or rule.
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§ 309. Advisory council on agriculture. 1. There shall be established
within the department the advisory council on agriculture, to advise and
make recommendations to the state agencies on state government plans,
policies and programs affecting agriculture, as outlined below, and in
such areas as its experience and studies may indicate to be appropriate.
The department of agriculture and markets shall provide necessary
secretariat and support services to the council.
2. The advisory council on agriculture shall consist of eleven members
appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate,
selected for their experience and expertise related to areas of council
responsibility. At least five members of the council shall be operators
of a commercial farm enterprise and at least two members shall be
representatives of local governments. The balance of the council shall
be comprised of representatives of business or institutions related to
agriculture. Members shall be appointed for a term of three years and
may serve until their successors are chosen provided, however, that of
the members first appointed, three shall serve for a term of one year,
three shall serve for a term of two years, and three shall serve for a
term of three years. Members shall serve without salary but shall be
entitled to reimbursement of their ordinary and necessary travel
expenses. The members of the council shall elect a chairman.
3. The duties and responsibilities of the advisory council on
agriculture as they pertain to agricultural districts shall include, but
not be limited to, providing timely advice, comments and recommendations
to the commissioner in regard to:
a. the establishment of agricultural districts;
b. the eight year review of agricultural districts; and
c. the establishment of and any revision to the land classification
system used in connection with the determination of agricultural
assessment values.
The commissioner may delegate to the council such additional duties
and responsibilities as he deems necessary.
4. The duties and responsibilities of the advisory council on
agriculture shall include, but not be limited to, providing timely
advice, comments and recommendations to the commissioner of taxation and
finance in regard to the establishment of agricultural assessment
values.
5. The advisory council on agriculture shall advise the commissioner
and other state agency heads on state government plans, policies and
programs affecting farming and the agricultural industry of this state.
Concerned state agencies shall be encouraged to establish a working
relationship with the council and shall fully cooperate with the council
in any requests it shall make.
6. The advisory council on agriculture may ask other individuals to
attend its meetings or work with it on an occasional or regular basis
provided, however, that it shall invite participation by the chairman of
the state soil and water conservation committee and the dean of the New
York state college of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell
university. The advisory council on agriculture shall set the time and
place of its meetings, and shall hold at least one meeting per year.
7. The advisory council on agriculture shall file a written report to
the governor and the legislature by April first each year concerning its
activities during the previous year and its program expectations for the
succeeding year.
8. The advisory council on agriculture shall advise the commissioner
in regards to whether particular land uses are agricultural in nature.
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9. a. The advisory council on agriculture shall advise the
commissioner in establishing procedures for making annual awards
recognizing New York farms, agricultural and food businesses, and
institutions that are successful in producing, processing, marketing,
and/or promoting New York farm and food products. The commissioner shall
coordinate with the commissioner of economic development to determine
which department shall make awards in categories that may be similar to
those listed in subdivision eighteen-c of section one hundred of the
economic development law. These awards shall be given in recognition of
exceptional performance and support for New York agriculture by persons,
firms and organizations that are principally located within the state of
New York and engaged in the operation of New York state farms,
businesses and institutions.
b. The council may annually nominate and forward such nominations for
awards to the commissioner for his or her consideration in the following
categories:
(i) innovative and unique farm products developed for food, beverages,
or horticulture;
(ii) agri-tourism;
(iii) foods or beverages processed or manufactured from New York farm
products;
(iv) retail food stores;
(v) restaurants and other food service businesses; and
(vi) education, health care and residential institutions including,
but not limited to, food service in schools, colleges, hospitals,
nursing homes, day care and senior centers.
c. The council may also recommend to the commissioner nominations for
awards given pursuant to subdivision eighteen-c of section one hundred
of the economic development law.
d. The commissioner may designate award winners from these nominees at
his or her discretion. Current members of the advisory board and their
businesses are not eligible as nominees.
§ 309-a. Young farmer advisory board on agriculture. 1. There shall be
established within the department the young farmer advisory board on
agriculture, to advise and make recommendations to the state agencies on
state government plans, policies and programs affecting agriculture, as
outlined below, and in such areas as its experience and studies may
indicate to be appropriate. The department shall provide necessary
secretariat and support services to the board.
2. The young farmer advisory board on agriculture shall consist of
twenty members, ten to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and
consent of the senate and assembly, selected for their experience and
expertise related to areas of board responsibility. The board shall be
comprised of diverse members of the agriculture industry as follows:
(a) Of the twenty members appointed to the board:
(1) one shall be from the department;
(2) one shall be from the empire state development corporation;
(3) one shall be an officer of the Future Farmers of America (FFA);
(4) one shall be an urban farmer;
(5) one shall be from the New York Farm Bureau; and
(6) fifteen shall be from the general public appointed as follows:
five to be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, five to
be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, and five to be appointed by
the governor.
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(b) Each member shall:
(1) be interested in the preservation and development of agriculture
and preservation of the agricultural way of life in New York;
(2) be under the age of forty-five years old at the beginning of the
member's term;
(3) derive at least fifty percent of the member's personal income from
farming or agricultural activities in the state;
(4) be a resident of the state; and
(5) be appointed for a term of three years and may serve until their
successors are chosen; provided, however, that of the members first
appointed, six shall serve for a term of one year, six shall serve for a
term of two years and eight shall serve for a term of three years.
(c) Members shall serve without salary but shall be entitled to
reimbursement of their ordinary and necessary travel expenses.
(d) The members of the board shall meet quarterly.
3. The duties and responsibilities of the young farmer advisory board
on agriculture shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) annually electing from its members a chairperson, a vice
chairperson, and a secretary of the advisory board at the advisory
board's first meeting of the calendar year;
(b) communicating to the general public, the federal government, and
the state government the importance of young and beginning farmers to
agriculture in the state;
(c) identify issues relating to young and beginning farmers in the
state and provide timely advice to the commissioner, the governor and
the relevant state agencies, with regard to the promotion of agriculture
as a career path and the economic development of young and aspiring
farmers;
(d) produce an annual report and provide such report to the governor,
the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on
or before the end of each calendar year. Such report shall identify and
prioritize policy issues which affect young and aspiring farmers; and
(e) establish committees, as necessary, to develop projects relating
to the aspects of life for young and beginning farmers in the state.
§ 310. Disclosure. 1. When any purchase and sale contract is presented
for the sale, purchase, or exchange of real property located partially
or wholly within an agricultural district established pursuant to the
provisions of this article, the prospective grantor shall present to the
prospective grantee a disclosure notice which states the following:
"It is the policy of this state and this community to conserve,
protect and encourage the development and improvement of agricultural
land for the production of food, and other products, and also for its
natural and ecological value. This disclosure notice is to inform
prospective residents that the property they are about to acquire lies
partially or wholly within an agricultural district and that farming
activities occur within the district. Such farming activities may
include, but not be limited to, activities that cause noise, dust and
odors. Prospective residents are also informed that the location of
property within an agricultural district may impact the ability to
access water and/or sewer services for such property under certain
circumstances. Prospective purchasers are urged to contact the New York
State Department of Agriculture and Markets to obtain additional
information or clarification regarding their rights and obligations
under article 25-AA of the Agriculture and Markets Law."
1-a. Such disclosure notice shall be signed by the prospective grantor
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and grantee prior to the sale, purchase or exchange of such real
property.
2. Receipt of such disclosure notice shall be recorded on a property
transfer report form prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and
finance as provided for in section three hundred thirty-three of the
real property law.