A state lawmaker wants to crack down on what he calls abuses in the state’s “Clean and Green” program that give unintended tax breaks to country clubs and golf courses, among others.
“These abuses of the existing law are causing the other property owners in all counties around Pennsylvania to carry a greater tax burden,” state Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, said today during a news conference at the Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown.
The proposal would amend parts of the program to require increased amounts of land to qualify for discounted assessments. Now, a property owner with at least 10 acres, depending on the use of the land, can qualify for an agricultural reserve or forest reserve classification. Fontana’s bill would increase the minimum to 30 acres. The proposal also would require assessors to visit properties in the program to confirm that use of the land conforms with the intent of the 1974 law, which was designed to preserve farm land and forests.
“We certainly aren’t doing this to hurt anybody that legitimately should be in that program, but we’re trying to weed out those that should be out,” Fontana said.
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