New Jersey says no tax break for you beekeepers

[Understudy]

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071028/NEWS/710280430

Their property taxes are more than my yearly income. Wow.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[Moonshae]

As a NJ resident, anyone who can afford to pay $1 million per acre doesn't need a tax break for some hives, especially if they're paying for lawn service to keep it all mowed, too.

[KONASDAD]

This will hurt a lot of small farmettes and put more pressure on develpment versus green acres. This has always been a loophole for "rich "farmers, but it also greatly helped the real farmer too. Unfortunately, the courts could have decided this case on diff issues and spared beekeepers. Municipalities fight a homeowner from getting this status b/c they lose money.

[Moonshae]

If they're growing crops or anything else for sale, they'll be just fine. But putting a few hives in your yard and keeping a 5 acre manicured lawn hardly seems to justify a tax break...seems like an attempt to game the system to save money on taxes.

[KONASDAD]

If they're growing crops or anything else for sale, they'll be just fine. But putting a few hives in your yard and keeping a 5 acre manicured lawn hardly seems to justify a tax break...seems like an attempt to game the system to save money on taxes.

One persons loophole is anothers necessity. I understand your point. Many wealthy homeowners cut $500 worth of timber or plant some soybeans to comply w/ statute, when they're not really farmers. Small farms are becoming the norm in NJ. This will definately hurt down here in south jersey This case will be used to begin to zone out bee keeping. Its already happening in Bergen county. The courts simply could have decided they didnt have sufficient agricultural use even w/ the bees. Now they'll plant some christmas trees and comply and get their tax break anyways and no bees would be needed.

[beemaster]

I surely agree about the $1 million an acre - that is still the average property in larger bundle - for retirement villages. But one acre properties are nearly extinct here.