Legislation could lower taxes for poultry farmers
PHILIDELPHIA - Poultry farmers could soon see their property taxes shrink should a measure authored by State Sen. Gloria Williamson make it through the state legislature and onto the governor’s desk. Williamson has proposed a bill in the senate which will exempt 25 percent of the assessed value of chicken houses from ad valorem taxes because she says poultry farmers are already paying more than their share.“When they assess the value of poultry houses they are assessed by square footage in the same way as a small business,” she said. “By assessing them that way, farmers end up paying far more than they should.”
Williamson said poultry houses are different from other small businesses in that should a business close the building is usable for other means whereas chicken houses can only be used for one specific purpose.