Joint Committee on Finance Action:
- Adding Timber as being Eligible for State Tax
- More Forestry Account Funds Spent without Reducing the MFL Closed Acreage Special Tax
- Changes to MFL Cutting Notices Mean Landowners Need to Be Aware
- Repeal of MFL Leasing Ban: Progress Made but No Changes
WAFO Challenges Misconceptions About the “Huge” Tax Break MFL Provides Private Woodland Owners
WAFO Membership is Free and Important in Making Changes for Woodland Owners
Joint Committee on Finance Action: Adding Timber as being Eligible for State Tax
Under the Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit provision enacted into law several years ago, profits gained from the selling of agricultural crops will essentially not be subject to state income taxes. However, timber was excluded as the law said it applied only to crops and animals raised on lands that qualified for use value assessment. In Governor Walker’s budget, he had proposed that the tax credit eligibility be expanded to include timber. In a subsequent request to the Joint Finance Committee, he asked that this provision be removed, that it was not his intention to include it.
In a letter, WAFO asked that this provision be retained. JFC has not yet met to discuss this item, but will do so in the next few days. If you have not yet contacted your legislators, please do so.
Joint Committee on Finance Action: More Forestry Account Funds Spent without Reducing the MFL Closed Acreage Special Tax
After reviewing a special Legislative Fiscal Bureau Paper #460 on the status of the State’s Forestry Account, the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) targeted the Forestry Account to provide $1.4 million to local governments to remove road kill deer, $4 million to fund state park and forest roads, and to return $2 million to local governments based on the acres of closed MFL land. See Bureau Papers #461, #462 and Motion 242.
The Forestry Account currently receives $9 million from the fees imposed on landowners in the MFL who close their land to public access. WAFO has argued that this special state tax, which is not collected on our other agricultural lands, should be reduced.
Joint Committee on Finance Action: Changes to MFL Cutting Notices Mean Landowners Need to Be Aware
The JFC voted to allow MFL cutting notices to be submitted by foresters accredited by the Society of American Foresters, Wisconsin Cooperating Foresters, Association of Cooperating Foresters, or Sustainable Forestry Initiative Foresters. If cutting notices are completed by one of these accredited foresters, DNR approval would be unnecessary before cutting begins. See Budget Paper #465.
WAFO, along with the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, have concerns that this change could put landowners at risk should a cutting proceed and then be found by the DNR to be a violation. Given this change, we will now work to ensure that landowners are clearly informed that they have the option of having the DNR approve the cutting before proceeding.
See a draft of the DNR Cutting Notice Process Roadmap.
Repeal of MFL Leasing Ban: Progress Made but No Changes
As part of the State biennial budget, WAFO worked with JFC members to gain support for rescinding the ban on the leasing of MFL lands. See our letter to JFC members for more detail. A preliminary motion that included this action was proposed by Senator Tom Tiffany and Representative Mary Czaja.
Unfortunately, this element of the motion was not supported by some influential legislators for reasons we’re still trying to determine. We have made progress but it’s clear there’s a lot of educational work needed to be done. As one representative stated, “I had no idea what the MFL was all about until now.”
WAFO will continue to make this issue a priority along with other needed MFL changes. We’ve received assurances that this item will be introduced as a piece of separate legislation this session. Whether this issue be a stand alone bill, or bundled into a more comprehensive MFL bill, is still to be determined. At this point in time, we’re inclined to push to see it introduced separately. A separate bill would allow us to focus on a single issue, one which we could clearly explain and use to highlight the bigger threats our forests face from property tax inequities. We’ve learned that the MFL is so complex that, as they say, “It makes your head swim.” Although other MFL changes are needed, a simple message will help us explain to legislators the problems that private woodland owners face.
WAFO Challenges Misconceptions About the “Huge” Tax Break MFL Provides Private Woodland Owners
In The Country Today, a magazine that has a focus on rural issues, there has been extensive dialogue and articles about the Managed Forest Law and other woodland issues. In a recent issue, the Town of Dover Treasurer wrote about how the MFL drives up the taxes other landowners must pay. Given this common misconception, WAFO has made it a priority to respond whenever articles like this appear. See our letter of response and keep us informed of other opportunities to which we can provide response.
WAFO Membership is Free and Important in Making Changes for Woodland Owners
Part of WAFO’s business plan is to link forest landowners with their state legislators. We are currently setting up a structure which would allow us to let landowners know what their legislators are doing. For example, if we had the ability to inform those landowners who lived in, or had woodland in, areas represented by Representative John Nygren or Senator Alberta Darling (Co-Chairs of Joint Finance) we could have made the contacts which may have resulted in the leasing ban repealed as part of the budget bill.
Did you know that there are several HUNDRED landowners who are enrolled in the MFL in just these two legislator’s districts? If it takes only a handful of contacts be made to them on an issue like this, you can see the potential we have to make a difference.
Membership in WAFO is FREE. Let every other woodland owner you know that by simply providing an email address and information on where their woodland is located, they’ll become a member. Not only will they be able to affect needed law and regulation changes by being able to speak as one, they also will have access to more detailed tips and information that will help them reduce their tax burden today.
How will WAFO exist without financial support? The simple answer is it wouldn’t. However we’ve already received enough financial support to get us to this point. Occasionally we’ll ask members if they’d like to provide a donation or contribute to our Conduit so that we can target campaign donations to those who would support our policy priorities.
If you haven’t already, please consider making a donation. Charter members, those who have contributed $500 or more to help us get started, receive a preliminary analysis on how their land should be, or could be, classified by their assessor to receive a lower tax rate. Several WAFO members have already seen their property tax bills reduced by several thousand dollars!
We have just released a new membership category for our industry partners in the form of Business Associate. Are you interested in becoming one of our first industry supporters? Membership is $500 and your business will be listed on our website along with a link to your website. Become a Business Associate today!