Tkaczyk Commends Governor for Signing Bill to Limit Tax Increases for Farmland

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk said she was very pleased that Governor Cuomo has signed into law a measure to cap assessment increases on farmland at two percent each year, and said the Governor has “once again demonstrated his support of and appreciation for the State’s farmers.”

The measure will “provide farmers in New York with a greater level of stability and predictability in budgeting and anticipating their expenses; And it will help small family farms to grow, invest in their farms and create new jobs,” Senator Tkaczyk said.

Previously, agricultural assessments could increase by as much as ten percent, which has led to a doubling of the base assessment for farm land in the last seven years. This has been disastrous for New York farmers.

Senator Tkaczyk, a member of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, said it was important to hold the line on agricultural taxes because farming and associated industries generate more than $31 billion in economic activity in New York.

Tkaczyk has sponsored a number of measures designed to help small farms, including loan and grant programs to help farmers modernize their equipment and recover from natural disasters. She has also organized tours of Upstate Farms for some of her downstate colleagues, to introduce them to the difficulties facing family farms. Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins recently participated in one such tour of Ulster county farms.

As a result of her work supporting and protecting small family farms, Senator Tkaczyk was this year included in the NYS Farm Bureau’s “Circle of Friends.”