§ 44-27-3 - Classification of farmland.
SECTION 44-27-3
§ 44-27-3 Classification of farmland.– (a) An owner of land may file a written application with the director ofenvironmental management, for its designation by the director as farmland. Whenthe application is made and after a filing fee of ten dollars ($10.00) is paid,the director shall examine the land and, if the director determines that it isfarmland, the director shall issue a certificate in his or her office, furnishea copy to the owner of the land, and file one copy in the office of theassessor of the city or town in which the land is located.
(b) When requested to do so by the assessor or whenever thedirector deems it necessary, the director of environmental management shallre-examine land designated by the director as farmland. If the director findsthat this land is no longer farmland, the director shall send a notice to thelandowner that the landowner has thirty (30) days either to bring the land intocompliance or to request a formal hearing before the director. If after thethirty (30) days or after the hearing, the director confirms that the land isno longer farmland, the director shall issue a certificate canceling his or herdesignation of the land as farmland, and shall furnish one copy to the ownerand fileone in the office of the assessor. Loss of designation by action of thedirector of environmental management makes the land subject to the land usechange tax provided for in § 44-5-39.
(c) An owner of land designated as farmland by the directorof environmental management may apply for its classification as farmland on anyassessment list of the city or town where it is located by filing a writtenapplication for that classification with the assessor of the city or town notearlier than thirty (30) days before nor later than thirty (30) days after thedate of assessment, except that in years of revaluation not later than thirty(30) days after written notice of revaluation or in its absence after receiptof the tax bill, and if the director has not cancelled his or her designationof that land as farmland as of a date at or prior to the date of theassessment, the assessor shall classify the land as farmland and include it asfarmland on the assessment list.
(2) In order to maintain this classification, each yearthereafter, the property owner shall submit to the assessor a certificate on aform prescribed by the assessor confirming that the land is still used infarming. The assessor shall mail the forms by registered or certified mail notlater than the thirtieth of November. Failure to submit the certificate bythirty (30) days after the date of assessment is construed as voluntarywithdrawal of the classification, except that the assessor may waive thisrequirement for good cause.
(3) Notwithstanding the preceding subsections, whenever theowner of land designated and classified as farmland is a municipal land trust,municipal conservation commission, or private nonprofit land trust, annualcertification is not required, and the classification continues until thevoluntary withdrawal of the classification by the owner, or the transfer of theland by the owner in fee simple.
(d) Application to the director of environmental managementfor designation as farmland shall be made upon a form prescribed by thedirector and shall present a description of the land and any other informationthat he or she may require to aid the director in determining whether the landqualifies for that designation. An application to an assessor forclassification of land as farmland shall be made upon a form prescribed by theassessor and shall present a description of the land and the date of issuanceby the director of environmental management of his or her certificatedesignating it as farmland.
(e) Failure to file an application for classification offarmland within the time limit prescribed in subsection (c) of this section andin the manner and form prescribed in subsection (d) of this section shall beconstrued as a waiver of the right to that classification on the assessmentlist.
(f) Any landowner aggrieved by: (1) the cancellation of adesignation under subsection (b) of this section or the denial of anapplication, filed in accordance with the provisions of subsections (c) and (d)of this section, by the assessor of a city or town for a classification of landas farmland; or (2) the use value assessment placed on land classified asfarmland by the assessor; has the right to file an appeal within ninety (90)days of receiving notice, in writing, of the denial or the use value assessmentwith the board of assessment review of the city or town. Should the city ortown not have a board of assessment review, the city or town council reviewsthe appeal. The assessor shall be given the opportunity to explain either hisor her refusal to classify the land or the assessment placed on the classifiedland. The board of review, or city or town council, shall also consider thetestimony of the landowner and the city or town's planning board andconservation commission, if they exist. They shall also seek and consider theadvice of the office of state planning, the department of environmentalmanagement, the dean of the college of resource development, and theconservation district in which the city or town is located.
(g) The board of assessment review, or city or town council,shall not disturb the designation of the director issued pursuant to subsection(a) of this section, unless the tax assessor has shown by a preponderance ofthe evidence that that designation was erroneous.
(2) The board of assessment review, or city or town council,shall render a decision within forty-five (45) days of the date of filing theappeal. Decisions of the board of assessment review, or city or town council,may be appealed to the superior court pursuant to § 44-27-6.