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Editor's note: This is part of an occasional series on the CAUV program in Ohio.

A task force convened by the Ohio Division of Forestry is recommending that the Ohio Forest Tax Law (OFTL) be folded into the current agricultural use valuation (CAUV) program.

The CAUV program has been a hot topic recently with some people questioning aspects of the 33-year-old program. Sean Logan, the new director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, told The (Toledo) Blade recently that he is concerned by the lack of uniformity in how county auditors apply CAUV. The Ohio Department of Taxation administers the CAUV at the state level, and county auditors administer it in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Logan also said forestry management is an issue he wants to focus on. The Ohio Division of Forestry is recommending OFTL be merged with CAUV because it said more people try to get into the CAUV program than OFTL because they often can get a better reduction in the value of their land.

Under OFTL, landowners get a 50 percent property real estate tax reduction while CAUV provides reduced real estate tax values based on the production capacity of the soil. OFTL also requires a state or private professional forester to draw up a forest management plan with the intention of selling timber. Woodland or forestland that is contiguous to land that otherwise qualifies for CAUV can go into the CAUV program without having a timber plan.

"With the very low CAUV rates, everybody wants into the CAUV program and not OFTL," said Larry Gearhardt, Ohio Farm Bureau’s director of local affairs.

Gearhardt said he anticipates a bill will be introduced in the legislature this year that would recommend merging the two programs.

For more than 15 years, Gearhardt has been OFBF’s representative on a committee of experts that advises the Ohio Department of Taxation about CAUV. The committee has been meeting regularly to take a closer look at CAUV and to determine what changes may need to be made to it. Last year the committee determined that the crop yields part of the formula for determining CAUV values needed to be updated. The crop yields were updated in August and went into effect last tax year, resulting in a higher average per acre value.

Updating the crop yields was necessary because for the past few years there has been a decrease in the average per acre value, which seemed to not reflect its true value, Gearhardt said. The committee also has been looking into how forests/woodlands fit into the CAUV formula.

"CAUV is extremely near and dear to farmers’ hearts," Gearhardt said. "There are a lot of people putting pressure on the program who think CAUV is unfair because farmland is taxed by its value in agriculture instead of full market value.

"If we don’t make some changes to the program, there’s the possibility that someone will challenge it and we could lose it entirely."

Some court cases, including one decided by the Ohio Supreme Court in favor of county auditors over landowners, have challenged whether forestland can get the CAUV tax break.

If OFTL and CAUV are merged, the forestry division task force has agreed that only landowners who have more than 25 percent of their property as forestland or woodland would have to get a forest management plan to be in CAUV, Gearhardt said. Because there is already a backlog of requests for state forest management plans, it has been suggested that local Soil and Water Conservation Districts help with the plans, he said.

"The woodlands issue has caused a lot headaches because there have been so many challenges by county auditors and courts," Gearhardt said. "Changes have to be made to protect CAUV."

Caption: Lower tax rates have drawn the interest of woodland owners.