Rhode Island General Laws 44-27-12. Duties of the board of assessment review or city or town council
The board of assessment review, or city or town council, shall hear and render a judgment on all appeals of:
(1) Landowners denied certification as farmland or forest land by the director of the department of environmental management or when the certification has been cancelled;
(2) Tax assessors aggrieved by the certification of land as farmland or forest land by the director of the department of environmental management;
(3) Landowners denied classification as farm, forest, and open space land by the local assessor;
(4) Landowners aggrieved by the use value assessment set by the local assessor;
(5) Landowners appealing the fair market value set by the local assessor for use in determining the land use change tax payable under the provisions of § 44-5-39 — § 44-5-41.
History of Section.
P.L. 1980, ch. 252, § 2.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 44-27-12
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- Farmland: means :
(i) Any tract or tracts of land, including woodland and wasteland constituting a farm unit;
(ii) Land which is actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use including, but not limited to: forages and sod crops; grains and feed crops; fruits and vegetables; poultry, dairy, and other livestock and their products; nursery, floral, and greenhouse products; other food or fiber products useful to people;
(iii) When meeting the requirements and qualifications for payments pursuant to a soil conservation program under an agreement with the federal government, the director of environmental management is authorized to promulgate and adopt rules and regulations defining particular categories and minimum acreages of land eligible for designation as farmland under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 44-27-2
- Forest land: means any tract or contiguous tracts of land, ten (10) acres or larger bearing a dense growth of trees, including any underbrush, and having either the quality of self perpetuation, or being dependent upon its development by the planting and replanting of trees in stands of closely growing timber, actively managed under a forest management plan approved by the director of environmental management. See Rhode Island General Laws 44-27-2
- Open space land: means any tract or contiguous tracts of undeveloped land, where the undeveloped land serves to enhance agricultural values, or land in its natural state that conserves forests, enhances wildlife habitat or protects ecosystem health, and that is:
(i) Ten (10) total acres or larger, exclusive of house site, where "house site" means the zoned lot size or one acre, whichever is smaller, and land surrounding dwellings or devoted to developed facilities, such as tennis courts, pool, etc. See Rhode Island General Laws 44-27-2
- town council: include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9