12/07/2020 Assessment Community Weekly

Happy holiday season!

Updated 480-a Annual Commitment Form from DEC

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Lands and Forests has removed the notary requirement and made some formatting changes to Form 81-02-8,  Forest Tax Law Commitment of Land to Continued Forest Crop Production (also known as the Annual Commitment Form).

As you’re aware, applicants file this form annually with your office, and it extends their commitment ten years into the future.

As in the past, you can accept previous versions of the form.

For more information about the forest land exemption program, visit DEC’s 480a Forest Tax Law webpage.

This week’s quiz

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a 79% tax on taxpayers earning more than $5 million. Had it been implemented, only one taxpayer would have been subject to that tax rate. Who would that have been? Hint: The owl knows.