In Re the Consolidated Appeals of Certain Timber Companies From the Denial of Use Value Assessment & Taxation by Certain Counties

ARNOLD, Judge.

Appellants’ property qualifies under all but one criteria of the statute in question for the present use taxation classification. To qualify, forestland owned by corporations must be “part of a forest unit that is actively engaged in the commercial growing of trees under a sound management program.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-277.2(2). The forestland must be comprised of tracts twenty acres in size or larger. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-277.3(a)(3). The property must be owned for at least four years by a taxpayer whose principal business is that of a timber company. N.C. Gen. Stat. §§…