MARYLAND 



In 1956 legislation was adopted providing 

 that lands actively devoted to farm or agri- 

 cultural use were to be assessed on the basis 

 of such use and not as if subdivided or on any 

 other basis. As reenacted in 1957 criteria were 

 provided for determining agricultural use; 

 among such criteria was "productivity of the 

 land including timberlands and lands used for 

 reforestation". This Act was held unconstitu- 

 tional by the State Supreme Court and was 

 reenacted in 1960 without reference to timber- 

 lands and lands used for reforestation. The 

 1960 Act (Article 81 Section 19(b) Maryland 

 Code) was validated by amendment of the 

 State Constitution. 



The Department of Assessments and Taxa- 

 tion advises that forest lands forming part of 

 a farm unit can generally be classified as agri- 



cultural lands subject to "present use" assess- 

 ment. When not part of a farm unit, use value 

 practice is not followed and such land is sub- 

 ject to assessment on the basis of market 

 value. 1 



No State assessment guides for forest land 

 have been adopted. Soil capability is being intro- 

 duced as a basis for agricultural assessments 

 through use of soil classification maps. Two 

 classes of woodland, according to capability, 

 have so far been established. These do not now 

 consider the size of timber, but it is thought 

 that this aspect may need to be considered at a 

 future date. 



1 Woodlands under forest management agreement ap- 

 proved by the State Department of Forests and Parks 

 may be subject to frozen assessments; little use has been 

 made of this optional provision (Article 81 Section 

 19(d) Maryland Code). 



MICHIGAN 



CUT OVER AND FOREST LAND 



DEFINITIONS 

 Cut Over Land 



The land from which the original forest has 

 been removed, partially or totally, and not used 

 for agricultural, suburban, or urban purposes. 



The types of land in this classification in- 

 clude those variously known as wild land, 

 swamp land, plains land. 



It is usually used for purposes varying from 

 limited grazing in fringe farming areas, nat- 

 ural and planned reforestation, hunting and 

 allied recreational activities to no use what- 

 ever of certain barren and isolated areas. 

 Power companies retain it for run-off and 

 erosion control in developed water sheds and 

 some of it is mere over-burden on known 

 mineral deposits. 



Forest Land 



The same type land as cut over except that 

 the commercial forest products on the land 

 exceed the residual value of the land itself. 



Evaluation 



The cut over area of Michigan embraces 

 most of the upper half of the lower peninsula 



1 Assessor's Manual, Michigan State Tax Commission, 

 pp. 212-219, 228-32. 1955. 



and a large portion of the upper peninsula, as 

 shown by the map on page 216. The value of 

 this property varies greatly from one area of 

 the state to another and feiv parcels within a 

 given area are of the same value. 



Cut over land has value deriving from con- 

 siderations other than forest reproduction. The 

 subjects of land value and forest product value 

 will be discussed separately. However, because 

 the natural cover is usually a direct indication 

 of basic land capability and possible use, the 

 cover must be considered at all times. The re- 

 production, therefore, always is an integral 

 part of the considerations in determining 

 value. 



There are many factors involved in estab- 

 lishing the value of any given parcel. Sales of 

 cut over land in any area are comparatively 

 limited. Some sales do not fairly reflect market 

 value. The appraiser must avail himself of all 

 available reliable information before the true 

 cash value of any parcels sold can be deter- 

 mined. Once this analysis of certain key par- 

 cels has been made, assessing becomes a matter 

 of making fair and equitable comparisons. 



The evaluation of cut over and forest land 

 for assessing purposes is accomplished in the 

 following manner: 



1. Determine the type or class of land. 



2. Determine the type and extent of cover. 



3. Determine the present utilization. 



4. Establish land value by comparison with 

 similar properties of known value. 



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