Restores
funding to agricultural programs
Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell announced
that the recently passed Assembly budget proposal delivers tax relief that will
benefit local farmers by reforming the estate tax, repealing the franchise tax
on farmers and eliminating the 18-a energy surcharge for residential customers
– a classification that includes many farming operations (E.914).
“Agriculture plays a vital role in the
North Country economy and presents a real opportunity for growth,”
Assemblywoman Russell said. “One of my top priorities has been to reform tax
policy so the North Country can capitalize on the boom in the dairy industry
and locally sourced foods.”
New York is one of only 14 states that
still has an estate tax exemption lower than the federal level. In an effort to
reduce the financial burden this tax places on farmers, the Assembly budget
increases the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $3 million over two
years, raising the amount of assets that can be excluded from this tax.
“The estate tax has not kept pace with
rising land and machinery values and as a result, farmers often have more
challenges planning for the future,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “People from other parts of the state might
not understand, but a farming operation with a few hundred acres, plus cattle
and equipment, easily puts farmers over the $1 million exemption. By raising the exemption level we make it more
affordable for farmers to pass the business they have built over a lifetime to
the next generation.”
The Assembly budget proposal also speeds
up the planned phase out of the 18-a utility assessment by eliminating it
immediately for residential customers and reducing the assessed rate by nearly
half for all other customers. Since many farming operations are classified as
residential, eliminating the 18-a energy tax will result in immediate
reductions in farmer’s utility bills, Assemblywoman Russell noted.
Also included in the budget are tax
credits for the use of bioheating fuel. Bioheating fuel is heating oil blended
with biodiesel which can be derived from feedstock crops like soybeans. This
tax credit will provide an expanding market for products like soybean oil
created when beans are crushed for feed.
“Incentivizing the use of biofuels will help create
a new market and new customers for our farmers,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “Rather
than heating our homes with oil that often comes from foreign countries,
biodiesel is literally homegrown and keeps more of our money in our community.”
In addition to the tax relief included
in the Assembly budget, Assemblywoman Russell fought to restore funding to
numerous programs that play a vital role in supporting North Country farming
operations. Programs that received additional funding above the executive
budget proposal include:
· Agribusiness
Child Development $1 million
· Cornell
University Rabies Program $200,000
· Cornell
University Farm Family Assistance (Farm Net) $200,000
· NY State Apple
Growers Association $544,000
· New York Farm
Viability Institute $1.1 million
· Maple Producers $125,000
· Tractor Rollover
Program $100,000
· NY Wine and
Grape Foundation $250,000
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