ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a general overview of the reasons for passing such laws as well as a discussion of their impacts. It describes and analyzes not specific to any one state, but rather draw on common themes from many states. The chapter suggests that the wealth of data that exists be used in evaluative research on the allocative and distributive impacts of use-value assessments. The political battle over the preferential treatment of farmland for property tax purposes is effectively over in the United States. Use-value assessment of farmland is the most widely used device for providing preferential treatment of farmland under the property tax. In actuality, much of the push by farmers for preferential assessments was defensive in nature. Lower property taxes mean a higher stream of future net returns, which will likely be capitalized directly into land values. The relative property tax burden on agricultural land in the United States has been dramatically reduced.
