(1) The owner may
voluntarily add forest land adjacent or contiguous to a subject parcel or
subtract from the subject parcel only under the following terms and conditions:
(a) Additional adjacent or contiguous lands
may be incorporated into the same application certificate and classification
upon:
1. Submission to and approval by the
Department of an amended forest management plan and application certificate no
later than 5:00 P.M., on or before June 30th of the
year preceding the period of desired classification;
2. Submission of the approved amended forest
management plan and amended certificate to the assessors no later than 5:00
P.M., on or before September 30th of the year
preceding the period of desired classification; and
3. Submission of the amended application
certificate providing for classification and taxation of the entire augmented
parcel for the balance of the term of the original classification
period.
(b) Land in
quantities less than that which would reduce the classified parcel to fewer
than ten contiguous acres may be voluntarily withdrawn by the owner during the
term of classification provided that:
1.
application in the form of an amended forest management plan is submitted to
the Department no later than 5:00 P.M., on or before June
30th (applications postmarked on or before June
30th shall be considered timely filed);
2. the Department, by approving said amended
forest management plan, certifies that the removal of said acreage does not
substantially detract from the goals of forest production set forth in the
original management plan; and
3.
the new certificate and amended forest management plan are submitted to the
assessors no later than 5:00 P.M., on or before September
30th, together with all applicable registry fees and
payment of all penalties, if any, then due for voluntary withdrawal of said
land from classification as required under M.G.L. c. 61, § 7.
(c) Additional adjacent and
contiguous lands shall be subject to the same certification and classification
periods as the subject parcel to which they are added, and shall be deemed part
of the land originally described in the forest management plan for purposes
including, but not limited to, recertification requirements or for calculating
penalties for removal or withdrawal from classification.
(2) Contiguous parcels of certified forest
land which are contained in separate forest management plans may be combined
together into a single forest management plan by filing an amended plan. The
amended plan will retain the case number of the most recently certified plan
and will be valid for the longer of the remaining certification
periods.
(3) If an owner
voluntarily seeks to remove all of a subject parcel from certification and
classification under M.G.L. c. 61, the owner shall notify the Department and
the assessor, whereupon the assessor shall calculate the penalty, if any, for
such removal in accordance with M.G.L. c. 61, § 7, and the owner shall pay
such penalty. Any dispute regarding the amount of the penalty shall be settled
between the assessor and the owner, or appealed to the appellate tax board or
other body of competent jurisdiction. The assessor shall notify the Department
upon removal of the subject parcel from classification under M.G.L. c. 61 and
reclassification of the subject parcel under M.G.L. c. 59.
