Farmland Preservation Credit Program
and Farmland Tax Relief Credit Program
Approximately $30.3 million in direct benefits was distributed to Wisconsin farmers in 2002 through the Farmland Preservation Credit Program and the Farmland Tax Relief Credit Program.
About 21,000 farmers claimed Farmland Preservation Credits amounting to $16.6 million, and 56,400 farmers received Farmland Tax Relief Credits totaling $13.7 million. The credits are paid through the state income tax or as a cash refund if the credit exceeds income tax due.
The Farmland Preservation Credit and the Farmland Tax Relief Credit may not
exceed 95% of the property taxes accrued on the farm.
The goals of the Farmland Preservation Credit Program are twofold: to preserve Wisconsin farmland by means of local land use planning and soil conservation practices and to provide property tax relief to farmland owners. To qualify for the credit, farmland must
be 35 acres or more and zoned for exclusive agricultural use or be subject to a
preservation agreement between the farmland owner and the state. About 80% of
the claims are for land under zoning and 20% are for land covered by agreements.
In addition, participants must comply with soil and water conservation standards
set by the state Land Conservation Board.
Farmland Preservation Credits averaged $797 per claimant, equal to 21% of claimants' average property tax bills. Approximately 37% of farm owners with 35 acres or more claimed Farmland Preservation Credits in 2002.
Table 1 shows statistics on participation in the program by county. The largest total credit payments were in Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Iowa, and Jefferson counties.
The Farmland Tax Relief Credit Program provides direct benefits to all farmland owners with 35 or more acres. The credit is computed as a percentage of property taxes up to a maximum credit of $1,500. The Department of Revenue annually determines the percentage that is used to calculate the amount of a claim based on the estimated number of claims and the amount appropriated for the credit. The 2001 credit equaled 11% of the first $10,000 of 1999 property taxes on farmland and averaged $208. The 2002 credit will equal 13% of the first $10,000 of 2001 property taxes. The 2003 credit will equal 30% of the first $10,000 of 2002 property taxes; sharply reduced property taxes on farmland. Table 2 shows statistics on participation in the Farmland Tax Relief Program by county.
Data in both tables are shown for the county in which the claimant lives, which may not be the same as the county in which the farmland is located. Table 1 and 2 data can be down loaded as a spreadsheet (MS Excel 4.0
format).
| COUNTY |
NUMBER OF
CLAIMS |
AMOUNT
OF CREDIT |
AVERAGE
CREDIT |
PARTICIPATION
RATE (1) |
| ADAMS |
28 |
$29,167 |
$1,042 |
12.4% |
| ASHLAND |
18 |
11,111 |
617 |
26.1% |
| BARRON |
422 |
386,285 |
915 |
39.2% |
| BAYFIELD |
37 |
39,700 |
1,073 |
27.0% |
| BROWN |
793 |
468,508 |
591 |
71.4% |
| BUFFALO |
211 |
202,225 |
958 |
26.3% |
| BURNETT |
30 |
28,891 |
963 |
17.6% |
| CALUMET |
298 |
181,572 |
609 |
34.9% |
| CHIPPEWA |
88 |
45,595 |
518 |
7.2% |
| CLARK |
101 |
83,635 |
828 |
6.1% |
| COLUMBIA |
858 |
731,191 |
852 |
63.7% |
| CRAWFORD |
180 |
192,205 |
1,068 |
26.0% |
| DANE |
1,760 |
1,215,601 |
691 |
63.2% |
| DODGE |
848 |
748,944 |
883 |
42.6% |
| DOOR |
71 |
41,460 |
584 |
14.7% |
| DOUGLAS |
D |
D |
D |
D |
| DUNN |
216 |
173,787 |
805 |
19.1% |
| EAU CLAIRE |
230 |
215,616 |
937 |
30.1% |
| FLORENCE |
D |
D |
D |
D |
| FOND DU LAC |
1,216 |
870,936 |
716 |
73.7% |
| FOREST |
D |
D |
D |
D |
| GRANT |
761 |
568,144 |
747 |
36.6% |
| GREEN |
215 |
177,780 |
827 |
18.2% |
| GREEN LAKE |
264 |
217,184 |
823 |
45.5% |
| IOWA |
980 |
979,911 |
1,000 |
86.5% |
| IRON |
D |
D |
D |
D |
| JACKSON |
41 |
39,857 |
972 |
7.7% |
| JEFFERSON |
959 |
724,719 |
756 |
74.2% |
| JUNEAU |
56 |
59,501 |
1,063 |
11.5% |
| KENOSHA |
29 |
14,036 |
484 |
11.1% |
| KEWAUNEE |
652 |
410,985 |
630 |
76.3% |
| LA CROSSE |
291 |
273,082 |
938 |
50.4% |
| LAFAYETTE |
539 |
519,627 |
964 |
49.4% |
| LANGLADE |
225 |
145,959 |
649 |
65.0% |
| LINCOLN |
14 |
8,618 |
616 |
5.9% |
| MANITOWOC |
835 |
566,854 |
679 |
65.1% |
| MARATHON |
397 |
312,514 |
787 |
19.8% |
| MARINETTE |
20 |
11,562 |
578 |
5.6% |
| MARQUETTE |
38 |
37,417 |
985 |
14.1% |
| MILWAUKEE |
24 |
6,517 |
272 |
13.9% |
| MONROE |
90 |
73,541 |
817 |
8.6% |
| OCONTO |
32 |
15,890 |
497 |
4.2% |
| ONEIDA |
D |
D |
D |
D |
| OUTAGAMIE |
358 |
231,048 |
645 |
29.5% |
| OZAUKEE |
184 |
113,688 |
618 |
54.9% |
| PEPIN |
104 |
80,666 |
776 |
24.7% |
| PIERCE |
168 |
156,526 |
932 |
17.9% |
| POLK |
94 |
59,521 |
633 |
12.3% |
| PORTAGE |
121 |
108,792 |
899 |
16.7% |
| PRICE |
25 |
17,122 |
685 |
17.4% |
| RACINE |
49 |
25,928 |
529 |
11.1% |
| RICHLAND |
486 |
515,360 |
1,060 |
64.2% |
| ROCK |
930 |
695,124 |
747 |
71.7% |
| RUSK |
49 |
41,751 |
852 |
13.3% |
| ST. CROIX |
313 |
221,549 |
708 |
31.5% |
| SAUK |
593 |
585,426 |
987 |
45.3% |
| SAWYER |
8 |
8,060 |
1,008 |
10.3% |
| SHAWANO |
404 |
326,989 |
809 |
31.7% |
| SHEBOYGAN |
681 |
472,235 |
693 |
68.1% |
| TAYLOR |
45 |
41,517 |
923 |
7.0% |
| TREMPEALEAU |
338 |
306,950 |
908 |
28.1% |
| VERNON |
288 |
310,465 |
1,078 |
22.9% |
| VILAS |
D |
D |
D |
D |
| WALWORTH |
498 |
335,194 |
673 |
62.0% |
| WASHBURN |
15 |
12,611 |
841 |
10.2% |
| WASHINGTON |
139 |
106,625 |
767 |
17.8% |
| WAUKESHA |
108 |
59,035 |
547 |
25.2% |
| WAUPACA |
111 |
76,080 |
685 |
12.7% |
| WAUSHARA |
41 |
35,441 |
864 |
10.6% |
| WINNEBAGO |
168 |
112,509 |
670 |
23.0% |
| WOOD |
47 |
31,940 |
680 |
5.8% |
| OTHER (2) |
242 |
427,559 |
1,767 |
- - - |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Total Individuals |
20,490 |
16,354,608 |
$798 |
36.9% |
| Total Corporations |
376 |
$273,013 |
$726 |
42.8% |
| Total (Indiv. + Corp.) |
20,866 |
$16,627,621 |
$797 |
37.0% |
NOTES:
Data on number of claims and credit amount for individuals are from tax returns processed
between
July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002. Data on number and amount of corporate credits are from taxes returns processed between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002.
The data are based on county of claimant, which may not be the same as the county in which the farmland is located.
(D) Data for counties with 5 or fewer claimants are not disclosed; however, data for these counties are
included in the state totals.
(1) Estimated participation rate is the number of Farmland Preservation Credit claimants in the county as
a percentage of the number of Farmland Tax Relief claimants in the county as shown in Table 2.
(2) Includes credits on returns for which no county is specified and out-of-state returns. |
| COUNTY |
NUMBER OF
CLAIMS |
AMOUNT
OF CREDIT |
AVERAGE
CREDIT |
| ADAMS |
225 |
$79,785 |
$355 |
| ASHLAND |
69 |
15,571 |
226 |
| BARRON |
1,077 |
210,198 |
195 |
| BAYFIELD |
137 |
34,165 |
249 |
| BROWN |
1,111 |
200,455 |
180 |
| BUFFALO |
802 |
302,495 |
377 |
| BURNETT |
170 |
32,527 |
191 |
| CALUMET |
855 |
167,355 |
196 |
| CHIPPEWA |
1,229 |
262,759 |
214 |
| CLARK |
1,645 |
306,762 |
186 |
| COLUMBIA |
1,347 |
348,150 |
258 |
| CRAWFORD |
692 |
176,021 |
254 |
| DANE |
2,786 |
685,020 |
246 |
| DODGE |
1,991 |
509,326 |
256 |
| DOOR |
483 |
78,138 |
162 |
| DOUGLAS |
60 |
9,220 |
154 |
| DUNN |
1,133 |
322,090 |
284 |
| EAU CLAIRE |
764 |
165,257 |
216 |
| FLORENCE |
22 |
5,391 |
245 |
| FOND DU LAC |
1,651 |
351,908 |
213 |
| FOREST |
44 |
8,178 |
186 |
| GRANT |
2,077 |
524,999 |
253 |
| GREEN |
1,182 |
335,903 |
284 |
| GREEN LAKE |
580 |
145,595 |
251 |
| IOWA |
1,133 |
332,722 |
294 |
| IRON |
15 |
3,193 |
213 |
| JACKSON |
532 |
191,741 |
360 |
| JEFFERSON |
1,292 |
262,354 |
203 |
| JUNEAU |
486 |
131,396 |
270 |
| KENOSHA |
261 |
70,614 |
271 |
| KEWAUNEE |
855 |
150,022 |
175 |
| LA CROSSE |
577 |
166,553 |
289 |
| LAFAYETTE |
1,090 |
354,992 |
326 |
| LANGLADE |
346 |
82,105 |
237 |
| LINCOLN |
238 |
57,227 |
240 |
| MANITOWOC |
1,282 |
251,862 |
196 |
| MARATHON |
2,003 |
396,191 |
198 |
| MARINETTE |
357 |
71,219 |
199 |
| MARQUETTE |
270 |
84,284 |
312 |
| MILWAUKEE |
173 |
31,849 |
184 |
| MONROE |
1,042 |
260,024 |
250 |
| OCONTO |
756 |
135,390 |
179 |
| ONEIDA |
25 |
7,899 |
316 |
| OUTAGAMIE |
1,213 |
235,556 |
194 |
| OZAUKEE |
335 |
69,480 |
207 |
| PEPIN |
421 |
120,495 |
286 |
| PIERCE |
939 |
252,693 |
269 |
| POLK |
767 |
161,384 |
210 |
| PORTAGE |
724 |
199,385 |
275 |
| PRICE |
144 |
30,989 |
215 |
| RACINE |
443 |
113,261 |
256 |
| RICHLAND |
757 |
220,753 |
292 |
| ROCK |
1,297 |
345,799 |
267 |
| RUSK |
368 |
66,973 |
182 |
| ST. CROIX |
995 |
236,709 |
238 |
| SAUK |
1,309 |
350,195 |
268 |
| SAWYER |
78 |
21,422 |
275 |
| SHAWANO |
1,273 |
257,200 |
202 |
| SHEBOYGAN |
1,000 |
173,328 |
173 |
| TAYLOR |
643 |
133,964 |
208 |
| TREMPEALEAU |
1,202 |
312,185 |
260 |
| VERNON |
1,256 |
306,865 |
244 |
| VILAS |
25 |
6,368 |
255 |
| WALWORTH |
803 |
223,897 |
279 |
| WASHBURN |
147 |
33,030 |
225 |
| WASHINGTON |
780 |
166,854 |
214 |
| WAUKESHA |
429 |
103,302 |
241 |
| WAUPACA |
875 |
189,263 |
216 |
| WAUSHARA |
388 |
117,737 |
303 |
| WINNEBAGO |
730 |
154,777 |
212 |
| WOOD |
816 |
170,845 |
209 |
| MENOMINEE |
D |
D |
D |
| OTHER* |
456 |
112,899 |
248 |
| |
|
|
|
| Total Individuals |
55,480 |
13,206,842 |
$238 |
| Total Corporations |
879 |
$446,255 |
$508 |
| Total (Indiv. + Corp.) |
56,359 |
$13,653,097 |
$242 |
NOTES:
Data on number of claims and credit amount for individuals are from tax returns processed between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002.
Data on the number and amount of corporate credits are from tax returns processed between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002.
The data are based on county of claimant, which may not be the same as the county in which the farmland is located.
* Includes credits on returns for which no county is specified and out of state returns. |
Division of Research and Policy
P. O. Box 8933
Mail Stop 6-73
Madison, WI 53708-8933
Phone: (608) 266-2700
Fax: (608) 261-6240
Last updated January 28, 2003
