Property Tax Valuations

Types of Property Tax Valuation

If you are a landowner, you have an option to lower your property taxes under “open-space” valuation. These are not “exemptions” as they are commonly called, but special valuations that result in your land being taxed on its productivity value rather than its market value. There are three types of open-space valuation: 1) agricultural; 2) timber; and 3) ecological laboratory (ecolab). To qualify for agricultural and timber use, the property must have been used primarily for one of those purposes for at least 5 of the preceding 7 years.

Under agricultural valuation, your land can receive a reduced “valuation” that affects your property taxes for activities within approved categories.

Another type of agricultural use is Wildlife Management. In order to qualify, you must have an existing open-space agricultural, timber, or ecolab valuation. There is no minimum acreage requirement unless your property was reduced in size the previous year.

In addition, you must conduct 3 of the following 7 activities annually on your land:

Wildlife Management Activity Categories