Agriculture Conference Held in Hendry County

On Jan. 21, 2010 an agriculture conference was held in Hendry County at the Port LaBelle Inn, hosted by Phil Pelletier, Hendry County Property Appraiser and organized by Karen Robinson, Agriculture Appraiser to discuss and provide information in reference to the Conservation Easements, Legislative changes and Citrus Health Response Program (CHRP). Representatives from 16 different county Property Appraiser Offices, the Department of Revenue as well as Fee Appraisers and grove owners attended this conference and participated in the afternoon round table discussion.

Speakers at the conference included George Wheeler, Senior Appraiser for Department of Revenue, Gaylord (Jay) A. Wood, Esq., discussing Conservation Easements and Legislative changes. Richard Gaskalla, Director, Division of Plant Industry, Ron Hamel, Gulf Citrus Growers Assn., Inc., and Phillip Pelletier presented information on the Citrus Health Response Program (CHRP).

One major topic, conservation easements created by a new law that was enacted by the Legislature creating an exemption for real property dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes and requirements to file an application to be assessed for lands subject to a conservation easement, environmentally endangered or land used for outdoor recreational or park purposes. The speakers addressed some complex issues and many aspects that are still open to interpretation of the law.  With this being said it also has great potential in effecting our local Tax Base.

Abandoned groves are becoming a serious issue of specific concerns like Canker and now the spread of Asian Citrus Psyllid also know as “Citrus Greening”. CHRP provides an opportunity for the owners of abandoned citrus groves to continue to qualify for tax benefits even though the grove may be abandoned and not in production. This program is an effort to stop the spread of citrus disease especially to confront the spread of Citrus Greening. CHRP is an incentive for owners to maintain, push their abandoned groves or kill the citrus tree. Owners must meet certain qualifications and agreements in order to continue the Agricultural Classification. If you feel you qualify please contact our office at 863-675-5270.

We concluded with a very productive round table discussion, between Property Appraisers, citrus leaders, and the Fee Appraisal community dealing with a variety of topics which included valuing working waterfront, developing citrus base land values, bees, silviculture, even clam farming. The positive outcome sparked interest from the participants in hosting future meetings with similar agricultural forum.

Presentations:

Abandoned Grove-Gaskalla (Powerpoint .ppt)

Conservation Easement 2010 (Powerpoint .ppt)

Conservation Easements - Legal Aspects (Powerpoint .ppt)

Links:

Gulf Citrus Growers Association Inc.:
http://www.gulfcitrus.org