TAXATION OF FOREST LANDS 23 



If the desirability of property as an income-bearing, 

 private investment be taken as an indication of the pro- 

 portion of the tax burden which it ought to bear, wood- 

 lands ought not to be taxed proportionately more than 

 ordinary agricultural lands. Although a sharp buyer may 

 trade in woodlands that have mature timber on them, and 

 make on the investment, yet to buy land and to grow the 

 crop is not a good investment, except perhaps for surplus 

 funds, for three main reasons: first, because of the long 

 period of time which must elapse before the crop matures ; 

 second, because the property is not readily salable at full 

 value during that period; and third, because the crop is 

 exposed to injury from fire, storm, fungous and insect 

 ravages. 



And, if the amount of protection which the property 

 receives from the State and community be taken as an 

 indication of the proportionate amount of the tax burden 

 which it ought to bear, woodlands ought to bear less than 

 many other forms, instead of more, as they now do. We 

 can find no record of an insurance company which has 

 taken a risk on standing timber in the Commonwealth. 

 We have found only one company which quotes a rate, 

 and that rate is $6.25 on $100, a rate which exceeds 

 the average of growing timber, and which is, therefore, 

 prohibitive. From the point of view of protection, wood- 

 lands now bear far more than a fair proportion of taxes. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



In view of the facts above recited, we recommend : 

 1. That the laws relative to the taxation of woodlands 

 in this Commonwealth be amended in such a way as to 

 relieve the crop from taxation, except a fair rate of taxa- 

 tion on the average annual cut; that the value of the land 

 without the crop be assessed as cut-over land; and that 

 the value of the average annual cut* in cords or board 



* The average annual cut is equivalent to the average annual growth or 

 production, in the long run. In under-stocked woods it is less, and in over- 

 stocked woods it is more, than the growth, until equilibrium is restored. 

 The purpose of the recommendation is to secure to the town in which the 

 woodland maybe situated a revenue from the product the year it passes into 

 personalty, in which form it may leave the town, county, or State. 



