MODIFIED PROPERTY TAX LAWS 
Modified Assessment 
CONNECTICUT 
Modified Assessment Law!. 
Optional. Enacted 1963. 
General Statutes 1958, Ch. 208, 
Sees. 12-107a toe; 12-68. 
Classification 
Qualification. To be eligible for classification as 
“forest land’”’, tracts must aggregate 25 acres or 
more, must bear tree growth in such quantities 
and so spaced as to constitute in the opinion of 
the State Forester a forest area, and must be 
maintained in a state of proper forest condition. 
Provision is made for the classification also of 
“farmland” and “open space land” as defined 
by the Act. 
Procedure. The owner applies to the State 
Forester setting forth a description of the land and 
such other information as may be required. If, 
upon examination, the tract is designated by the 
State Forester as “forest land’’, such finding is 
certified to the landowner with notification to 
the assessor. The former then applies to the as- 
sessor to have the tract classified for assessment 
as “forest land’’. 
_ The municipality within which designated land 
is situated, or the owner of land which the State 
1 Known as the Open Space Law, Public Act 490. 
15 
Forester has refused to designate, may appeal 
to the courts. Provision is also made for appeal 
in case of denial of classification by the assessor. 
Conditions governing continued classification. 
The tract must continue to qualify for designation 
as “forest land’’. Each year within a specified 60- 
day period, the owner must reapply to the asses- 
sor for classification of the tract. Failure to file 
application within the prescribed time limit is 
considered a waiver of the right to such classifica- 
tion on the assessment list for that year 
Declassification 
When requested to do so by the assessor or 
whenever he deems it necessary, the State Forest- 
er shall re-examine designated tracts and shall 
cancel such designation if the land is no longer 
eligible. 
Tax treatment 
Land and timber. The present true and actual 
value of a tract classified as ‘‘forest land”’ is based 
upon its current use without regard to neighbor- 
hood land use of a more intensive nature. 
