|
fined shall be up to the legislature or its
delegated authority. So that in effect what
this particular section would do would be
to overrule the Alsop case by permitting
the General Assembly and/or the State
Department of Assessments and Taxation
to set up standard rules and regulations
that would have to be complied with be-
fore you would have a farm.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Macdonald.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: Wasn't
that the situation in the Alsop case? Didn't
we have a statutory standard and didn't
we have 12 or 14 criteria laid down by the
State Department of Assessments and Tax-
ation?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: That is right, but
unfortunately, the Constitution did not pro-
vide as this provision does that the legisla-
ture could define it.
What Article 43 says is, I will quote it
to you, "The legislature may provide that
land actively devoted to farming or agri-
cultural use shall be assessed on the basis
of such use and shall not be assessed as if
subdivided."
The Court of Appeals construed that
language to make it absolutely mandatory
that the objective test be employed. Our
language is to the contrary. It says that
property shall be assessed if devoted to
agricultural use as prescribed by law.
I want to make it perfectly clear on the
record that the intention of this provision
is to permit the definitional power of the
General Assembly, which may be delegated
to the State Tax Commission or State De-
partment of Assessments and Taxation, to
control what is or what is not a bona fide
farm.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Macdonald.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: Am I cor-
rect in understanding you are updating
this assessment favor for farmland?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: The Committee Re-
port requires that some classification be
set up for farms, this is correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Macdonald.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: Am I also
correct in understanding that this matter
of giving this tax break to farm lands is
rather controversial?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
|
DELEGATE CASE: I suppose, Delegate
Macdonald, that any exemption or credit
which is given in the tax field is contro-
versial. Perhaps the most controversial of
all and which is now being worked on by
the General Assembly's special committee
on state taxation is the giving or affording
exemptions to manufacturing plants.
Of course this item runs into many,
many more millions of dollars than does
the use assessment type thing we are talk-
ing about.
So any provision like this is subject to
controversies.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Macdonald.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: The mat-
ter you just mentioned is not mandated,
is it?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE MACDONALD: I mean,
you do not recommend that that matter be
mandated, do you?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: No, it is not recom-
mended that it be mandated but by the
same token, as I said earlier, the only way
it could be mandated would be to require
equalization of exemptions and for the
reasons I stated earlier, this is found to be
impractical.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Needle.
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Delegate Case,
you mentioned that the first sentence in
paragraph b of section 8.01 had not yet
been considered by this Convention. That
is the "grandfather clause" so far as the
political subdivisions are concerned, but
that sentence number 2 had been con-
sidered.
I think actually both have already been
passed upon and are in the last sentence
of 7.05, the local government article, if
I am not mistaken, so that sub-paragraph b
would not require any further action at this
time. Is that not correct?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: I would defer to
you, Delegate Needle, on this. You are the
expert on local government.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Needle.
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Not at all, but
I think it would save a lot of time if I just
read to you that one sentence. You might
agree paragraph b would not require any
further action.
|
