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State Representative John Persell
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5516
For more information contact: Jessica Nyman 651-296-8877
Press/News Releases
Persell Supports Important Vote on Green Acres Bill
Saint Paul, Minnesota – State Representative John Persell joined State Representative Larry Hosch in passing HF 12, a bill that will help many Minnesota famers across the state, making much needed changes to the Green Acres program. Passage of the bill was especially poignant as the State Capitol was filled with hundreds of farmers and FFA students at the State Capitol for “National Teach-Ag Day."
Making a motion to “declare an urgency” on the house floor, Hosch brought forward HF 12 for an immediate vote. The urgency of passing this bill stems from an approaching May 2nd deadline at which time farmers must decide whether they should enroll in the Green Acres program. The bill which has been stalled in the committee process passed on a bipartisan vote.
“Thanks to the leadership shown by Representative Hosch and the House DFL Ag Committee, today’s bipartisan vote was a great victory for Minnesota farmers across the state,” said Representative Persell.
The Green Acres program helps Minnesota farmers and their families protect their farms from heavy property taxes that can occur when land development causes assessments to rise. Changes found in the bill were supported by The Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota Farmers Bureau and County Assessors.
“We needed to get this done now for the thousands of Minnesotans across the state waiting for us to take action on a common-sense bill to support family farmers,” said Hosch. “I am glad my motion to move this bill forward was successful so we can take positive action on behalf of the farmers of Minnesota.”
HF 12 makes several improvements to the Green Acres program, including:
• Retains of the Green Acres program for productive ag-land and the Rural Preserve program for non-productive land.
• Covenants and conservation plans that were previously required under the Rural Preserve program are eliminated, but land still has to be part of an ag homestead, unless it was enrolled in Green Acres prior to 2008.
• Land that was properly enrolled in Green Acres and was removed in order to enroll in the Rural Preserve program prior to Sept. 1, 2011, is grandfathered in.
• The ‘clawback’ to recover tax benefits after selling ag-property for a non-ag purpose is kept at 3 years for property currently enrolled, or enrolled prior to May 1, 2012, in either Green Acres or the Rural Preserve program. For property originally enrolled after May 1, 2012, the clawback period is 5 years for both Green Acres and Rural Preserve.
News Items
- Rep. Persell: We Must Come Together to Help Citizens, Businesses Affected by Disaster - (Posted: 2012-08-16 00:00:00)
- Rep. Persell: Today’s Hearing an Important First Step - (Posted: 2012-08-07 00:00:00)
- Rep. Persell: Omnibus Tax Bill Exemplifies Irresponsible Budgeting - (Posted: 2012-05-01 00:00:00)
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