Current use

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Current use is a phrase used to describe a property tax incentive for qualifying land owners (typically rural) who wish to preserve open space and avoid having their property assessed at the "best and highest" use that could be made of it (i.e., a housing development or a commercial use). The statutes provide significant savings when the land is currently in use for farming (agriculture and horticulture), silviculture, wetlands, or even unproductive woods. Further discounts may accrue if the land owner is willing to file a recreational easement permitting the unimpeded public to come upon the land for non-motorized recreation (e.g., hiking, hunting, bicycling, bird-watching, etc). When combined with a modest assessment of land that is unproductive, the "current use" abatement and recreational easement can result in very affordable tax bills, thus minimizing the need to divide and sell off chunks of land, often to developers and other speculators, as local tax rates climb, so that ever-increasing tax bills can be met.

In New Hampshire, USA, the owner of ten acres or more can file annually for the current use abatement for that portion of land not currently covered by structures or other improvements. The same form is used to request the recreational easement, which is then recorded in the county registry of deeds.

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