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OCTOBER 1991 ' _~ Page CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The assessor's removal of Green Acres classifica- tion as 0f January 2, 1990 is hereby affirmed. LET JUDGMENT BE ENTEP~D ACCO1LDINGLY. A STAY OF 15 DAYS IS ttEREBY ORDEI%ED. BY THE COURT, Earl B. Gustafson, Judge Dated: October 24, 1991 MEMORANDUM The "Minnesota agricultural property tax law," Minn. Stat. § 273.111, more commonly known as the "Green Acres" law, permits the taxation of farmland at its agricultural value even though its market value for another use might be higher· To receive this tax benefit (which is a tax deferment), the owner must provide proof that the land is presently being used for agricultural pur- poses and that ii generates annual gross income of at least $300 plus $10 per tillable acre. Petitioner owns 70 acres of land, with approximately 44 tillable acres, which has been classified as Green Acres land since the early 1980s. Ia May, 1991, the Da- kota County Assessor's Office, as part of a county-wide Green Acres verification process, requested petitioner to submit verification of the acres being farmed and the gross agricultural income earned from the land in 1989. Petitioner refused to submit any of the requested infor- mation in writing, although he had some conversations with people in the assessor's office. As a result, the as- sessor removed the Green Acres classification for the 1990 assessment year, for taxes payable in 1991. Peti- tioner appeals the assessor's action and requests rein- statement of the Green Acres classification. Relevant portions of Minn. Stat. § 273.111 read as follows: Subd. 3. Real estate consisting of ten acres or more. · . shall be entitled to valuation and tax deferment under this section only if it is actively and exclusively devoted to agricultural use as defined in subdivision 6... Subd. 6. Real property shall be considered to be in agricultural use provided that annually: (1) at least 33-1/3 percent of the total family income of the owner is derived therefrom, or the total production income including rental from the property is $300 plus $10 per tillable acre; .... Subd. 8. Application for deferment of taxes and assessment under this section shall be filed May 1 of the year prior to the year in which the taxes are payable. Any application filed hereunder and granted shall continue in effect for subsequent years until the property no longer qualifies .... The assessor may require proof by affidavit or otherwise that the property qualifies under subdivisions 3 and 6. (Emphasis added.) At trial petitioner explained that he refused to sub- mit any income information in writing to the assessor's office because to do so, in his opinion, would violate the unreasonable search and seizure provisions of the United States Constitution. Petitioner is certainly within his rights to refuse to submit any information. However, we also find that the assessor need not emend these special "Green Acres" tax benefits to petitioner without "proof by affidavit or oth- erwise that the property qualifie.s__.u_sde? subdivisions 3 and 6."