Property Tax Relief for Woodland Owners

Property taxes pay for important local government services authorized by elected officials, but they are a significant annual cost for forest landowners. Landowners may not fully recover management investments, including property taxes, when trees grow 30 to 100 years before harvest and ownership changes about every 20 years. In addition, your land management provides wildlife habitat, watershed protection, aesthetics, and biodiversity that benefit many Minnesotans who pay no forest management costs. Because of the public benefits your forest land provides, the Minnesota Legislature created the Sustainable Forest Incentive Act (SFIA) and the 2c Managed Forest Land Classification (Class 2c) to reduce ownership costs on sustainably managed forest land. (Mel Baughman, University of Minnesota)

 

The table below briefly explains these options: