Property Owners Can Petition to Join Agricultural Districts
Otsego County's annual 30 Day Open
Enrollment Period to join an
agricultural district
takes place during the
month of February.
Individuals in
Otsego County who
wish to join an
agricultural district
must submit a letter of
request to the county between February 1st and
March 2nd each year.
Requests must be submitted in writing and include the property owner's
name, mailing address, telephone number, town, and
tax parcel numbers. The request must also an explanation why the property should be included in the agricultural district. Properties to be added to the district should be predominately “viable agricultural land”.
From the NYS Agriculture and Markets Law, “viable agricultural land" means land highly suitable for agricultural production and which will continue to be economically feasible for such use if real property taxes, farm use restrictions, and speculative activities are limited to levels approximating those in commercial agricultural areas not influenced by the proximity of nonagricultural development.”
Individual petitions will be reviewed by the County’s Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board. The Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board will make recommendations to the County legislature on each petition. The County legislature will hold a public hearing and then vote on the approval of the recommended petitions. Subsequent to county approval, an updated district map with a report showing the new parcels for inclusion will be submitted to the State Department of Agriculture And Markets for state approval. Upon approval by Agriculture and Markets, the property owner will be notified by mail and the real property tax records for those parcel will be updated. Petitioners will receive notification sometime in late summer, early fall.
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