Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2006KY67B

Property Taxation, Forest Fragmentation and Development in Kentucky's Green River and Lower Cumberland River Watersheds

Institute: Kentucky
Year Established: 2006 Start Date: 2006-01-01 End Date: 2007-01-01
Total Federal Funds: $4,650 Total Non-Federal Funds: $17,994

Principal Investigators: Tamara Cushing

Project Summary: The purpose of this study is to characterize current practices used to assess timberland for property tax purposes in the thirty-nine counties in the Green River and the Lower Cumberland River Watersheds in Kentucky. These watersheds are among the top fifteen watersheds in the United States expected to experience increased development and fragmentation by 2030 (Stein et al. 2002). The goal of the proposed study is to build a foundation for future research aimed at changes in property tax policy to promote sustainable forest management, reduce fragmentation, and slow the conversion of forest lands to other uses. Interviews will be conducted with the property valuation administrators located in each of the counties in Kentucky in the Green River and Lower Cumberland River Watersheds. The survey will provide data on how properties are valued for taxation in each county. After the valuation methods are identified and characterized they will be applied to a hypothetical property that could be found in the watersheds to allow for the comparison of property values yielded by various valuation methodologies. These calculated values of the hypothetical property will be used to analyze the impact that various assessed values have on the taxes charged to landowners and the tax revenues to the counties. The results are intended to help develop future research recommendations for incentives to combat the rapid forest fragmentation that is occurring in Kentucky by encouraging active forest management.