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Hennepin County, Relator. '~ · ~'~.."~":~!'~'"::-a."' "% ~:'/+ '~:~ "~ " T~xCourt '' ': ..... -/'~e;L' ' '.- Stephen and .. . ~rl ~h~. '" ~tcnc Ba~o~ -' '" ~ Mpis. ' " '; ' R~nden~ . ~chacI Fr~ '. ........ .' '.i ~.Cn~.~ · · ~.. '" ~1~ Mfloncy, · ...... . ~ Mp~ · - SYLLABUS On appli~fion ~ a ~aycr for g~n ~3.13, su~. ~(0- " H~r~ ~ide~ ~d d~id~ ~ ~e ~ cn ~ - ' -- '- OPINION - ... CO~ J~ti~. ' '-. -'" .. ~o~ on ~c relation of Hc~epin ~.to ~ ~ ordg ' of ~c ~ta T~ ~ r~m~g . of ~e appli~/ion of r~n~nm Stephen ~d ~alc~ Ba~n for ~ ~uation ~r ~ ~m a~l~l ~ t~ law, ~ Stat. { 273.111, more ~mmoniy ~ ~ ~ ~n ag~ s~lc. W~ ~c~ . land l~t~ in M~ Minn~m. ~e for $1~,~ and wa ofi~n~ly p~ of a ho~ presently ~ned r~idcntial ~d is situate' in a nci~rh~d ~n- sider~ to ~ 'up~r ~cket.' ~ 1987 thc Ba~ ~m~acd a home later ~cri~d ~ "u~olc' ~r appm~mately $~0,~. home ~upi~, with its y~d spa~, one ~m of ~ pm~ and ~i~ing ~1 ad is ~i~ by an ~phaR ~ive ~om ~ main mad. ~ Ba~om ~vc ~nfin~ily ~pi~ thc home sin~ ~m~ction w~ ~mplet~ ~d ~ey haw no other r~idon~ wi~in or oumide of ~~'" ?:~' · · ~ 19~ ac Ba~om plat~ one-half of the l~d ac homo or yad spa~ in ~ hay and a~ o~er h~ in ~m ~d. alf~fa. ~ earn ~d a~lfa ~ fail~ ~s hay p~d in,mc d~ng ~payeo plated ac s~e ~, ~s of $1,1~0. ~ 1~ ~ ~duaion gcnc~ $~0 in in~me.- d~t~ned t~ d~pitc t~ a~l~ ~ ~ pnm~ or ~ncjpal ~ of thc pm~ w~ ~ "~idenfiai ~m~t~" of ~c a~cflt~[ ~ ~ ~c ~id~tial ~ thc ~r found ~ ~c~mra] ~ ~ ~ l~i~i~nt. ~r t~ B~ filed a. . di~amfi~ ~m ~ He--pin ~ ~r s ~~." ~ a~lio~ w~ ~ni~ ~d . . .; .-~,' ~;,~. ~ FINANCEAND COMMERCE SUPRElV~ CouRT E~mo~ to the tax court. '. .. ", ' ' .'.' ';"" --' The tax .court reversed the denial of the applicati6n,' t~onclUding that there is ~no requirement in the statutes that classification as agricultural property in accordance with section 273.13 is a require- granting of the Green Acres classification under section 273.111.~' It. ruled that, as a matter of law, the "subject property quali~es as agricultural land for the purposes of Minn. Stat. § 273.111 in the January 2, 1989 assessment." On c~rtiorari, we are called ui~on to determine whether the tax court properly restricted its inquiry to a consid6ration of the elements of section 273.111 without regard to the. indicia of classification of section 273.13. The green acres statute, Minn. Stat. § 273.111, was designed to provide significant property tax relief to promote the continued use as agricultural property of the land 'exclusively devoted to agricul- tural use,, Minn. Stat. § 273.111, .subd. 30), and located on the fl'/ages or amidst extra.haling urban areas. We ident/fied t~e 'es- sence' of the legislation in Elwell v. county .of ~ennepin,'30! "IT]hat farmland, if it meets the requ/r~ments of the act, · : will be valued for tax purposes solely with referenc~ to" its agricultural,me, Which may not necessarily be the .: .':' .. same vatu~ it w0uld have if other potent/al uses for the land were considered by the assessor. Qualification for the financial benefits and protr~tions cx:caSioned ? Section 273.13 relies on the market value of the land in qu~don to set tax rates. As thc market value of agricultural land, a n~axket value baaed on sales data fzl~m the irnmediat~ly p _rec_~ng year, goes up, se. does thc amount paid in property taxes. Se~ Mina. Stat. § 273.II,SuM. 10. Preperty that qualifies for gre~m acte~ status, however, is tax~i based on its use, not on its'mariner value. Section 273.111 also allows- payment of special a.sses.sments for such things as sewer, water, and utility services to be deferred indef'mitely. The financial benefits are clear:, the development value of the-land is not taken into account and the owner-is not required to contr/bute'to the special assessments that accompany cohtinued development. In the cas~ at hand, the resulting. tax reduction for taxes payable in 1990 is $2,769.05. .':: ...... ' permits farmland oveners to avoid'forced sales,'subdivisi0n of thei~ farm property or ~ban development.. ;? :'.-. .- - ' ':"-~.: ."- T!a~e taxpayers have sugge~ed that the green acres legislation, standing alone, provides a sufficient basis by which their property. might quali~ for this special tax status. Minn. Stat. § 273.111, sub~ 3(a) provides: ....... , -. Real estat~ com. isting 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 sul~iivision the homestead of the owner. Subdivision 6 provides:. ' Real property shall be considered to be in agricultural uze provided that annually: (1) at least 33 1/3 percent of the total family income of the owner is de~ved ~erefi'om, or the total production income inclufling 'rental fi'om the property is $300 plus $10 per tillable acre; and (2) it is devoted to the production for sale of .' · ' . agricultural product~ as de. fmexl ~n section 273.13, sub- ":" Forage and grair~ the products grown on the property at issue here, are included in the definition of agricultural products contained in section 273.1.3, subd. 23(e). · -' The county, on tbe other hand, urges the court to import to the . green acr~ legislation the definition of"agricultural land" contained in Minn. Stat. § 273.13, subd. 23(c), which provides as follows~ ' ' ' '- : "' Agricultural land as used in this section means c~n-'~ ..: -: tiguous acreage of tea acres or more, primarily used : --- '. during tbe preceding year for agricultural ptn't~ea.' )."~? Agricultural us~ may include pasture., timber, w- ~ aste.,~:'~~' 7'-'.:'" unusable wild /and, and land included in state or£ederal Y. '. ;-- . farm programs. 'Agricultural ~' aaused iffthis "'-: .':': 'section means the raising or cultivation'of agricul .t~rai. .... .