MTR. OF CLOVE DEV. CORP. v. Frey

OPINION OF THE COURT

Jones, J.

A tax assessor has no power to make a determination whether property is an “eligible tract” for forest land tax exemption under section 480-a of the Real Property Tax Law, such authority having been committed exclusively to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Finding that, under the statutory provisions then in effect, lands devoted to growth of forest crops were often being assessed at a level which rendered their continued dedication to such use uneconomical, the State Legislature in 1974 enacted section 480-a of the Real Property Tax Law under which a…