Maine Tree Growth Tax Law

Maine Tree Growth Tax Law is the premier conservation program in Maine. The program promotes conservation values, offers substantial saving on property taxes, and supports the working landscape. Maine foresters can help landowners benefit from this successful conservation program.

Tree Growth Program is a win-win-win program that the state offers to landowners in Maine. It allows landowners to save on property taxes, helps conserve forest and farm land, and supports the working landscape. These multiple goals embodied in Tree Growth are what make it such a successful land conservation program in Maine.
The main idea of Current Use is to tax land at the value for which it is being used. Instead of property being taxed at its “highest and best use” price, which is essentially its maximum value as a development, it gets taxed at a rate more compatible with income derived from forestry and/or farming. The result is that landowners have less pressure to build because of elevated property taxes.
A second major goal is to allow woodlands to continue to provide ecological, environmental and cultural benefits important to Maine. This includes wetland protection, wildlife habitat, nutrient cycling erosion control and the like. Also, a well forested landscape provides important recreation opportunities such as hiking, hunting, fishing, skiing, snowmobiling, birding, and general peace and solitude.
Third, thid program is meant to support the working landscape. By providing local sourced raw materials for lumber, pulp and wood heat, a well-managed forest provides income to landowners while creating jobs for loggers, mills, land managers and others.
In short, by enrolling in Maine Tree Growth Program landowners agree not to develop their land, and to manage it for forest or farm products. In doing so, their property taxes will be reduced, and in most cases reduced dramatically.

How does Maine Tree Growth Program Work?

Maine Tree Growth is available for both forest land and farm land. There are many nuances to how Maine Tree Growth works, but here are the basics.
Forest land owners can put all or part of their acreage into the program, except for two acres that must be excluded around any house or dwelling. The minimum parcel size that can be entered is 10 acres.
Landowners who enter the program must agree to two main principals.
First, land that is enrolled cannot be developed. If it is developed, the landowner is subject to a penalty, which can be significant depending on the value of the land being withdrawn from the program.
I always tell my clients that if there are areas of their land that are never likely to be developed, then those are perfect areas to enter into Current Use. If there are other areas where options should remain open to build on someday, then those areas should be excluded from enrollment.
Second, the land must be managed for forestry. Work is guided by a forest management plan and map. How this type of plan is developed, and what it contains, are described in more detail below.
By agreeing to not develop land, and to manage it for forestry, the state then taxes the land at its “use value” – the value for which the land is being used. This amounts to a substantial reduction on property taxes. It varies by town, but the reduction in the land portion of a property tax bill can be significant, sometimes 70%, 80% or even 90%!