Ohio Supreme court ruling on woodland CAUV

By Leisa Boley Hellwarth  

On Sept. 26, 2024, the Ohio Supreme Court issued an interesting ruling impacting Ohio agriculture. They unanimously held that the Ohio Department of Taxation must recalculate woodland CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Value) for the years 2015 through 2020. Ohio Administrative Code requires values to be accurate, reliable and practical. The Court found the Tax Commissioner did not base the tax rate for the clearing of wooded areas of agricultural lands on any data or evidence and must recalculate the tax rate based on reliable data and evidence.

A group of landowners challenged the tax values, arguing the state underestimates the cost of clearing wooded land which results in taxes being too high for unfarmed wooded areas. In support of the landowners who sued, some forestry experts argued the cost of clearing woodland was far higher than the cost rate the Tax Commissioner adopted, leading to wetlands being over taxed.   … Continue reading