Greenbelt

DEADLINE REMINDER: All Greenbelt and Forestry applications are due to the Property Assessor’s Office by March 1st. A reminder notice will be sent out this week to all accounts that qualify. To apply, you may fill out an application in our office or you may also call the office and request an application be mailed to you. You must return the notarized application along with a $12 recording fee made payable to the Rutherford County Register of Deeds to our office.

Please note:

• The completed applications are due by March 15th of the current year.

• The application MUST BE NOTARIZED

• It must be the updated application from our office.

• Application must be made by March 1 of the year which Greenbelt classification is sought.

• New owners of property currently in Greenbelt must reapply.

• Fill out an application for Forest or Agriculture, which you can get at the Assessors office. Note: application must be notarized when signed by you.

• Submit application to the Assessors office for review and leave your contact information.

• Parcel will be physically reviewed and you will be contacted.

• Upon application acceptance, you will need to have the application recorded with the Register of Deeds, for which there is a fee.

• A parcel must have at least fifteen (15) acres, including woodlands and wastelands which form a contiguous part thereof, constituting a farm unit engaged in the production or growing of crops, plants, animals, nursery, or floral products. A ten (10) acre noncontiguous parcel can qualify if the same owner has already qualified a fifteen (15) acre parcel and both parcels constitute a farm unit.

• A parcel must actually be engaged in agricultural activity. “Planning on farming” the parcel will not qualify.

• The law creates a presumption of farm use if the property produces a minimum average annual gross farm income of $1,500 per year, over any three consecutive years the property is in greenbelt, but the presumption is arguable if there is evidence that the property is or is not being farmed, regardless of the actual or claimed income.

Property can also qualify for Greenbelt Agricultural land, under the Family Farm Provision, if:

• The owner, owner’s spouse , or owner’s parents farmed the property for at least 25 years and 

• The owner continues to live on the property and

• The property is not currently used for any purpose that is inconsistent with farming. Note: The farming income / activity rule does not apply.

The Parcel must:

• Be at minimum of 15 acres.

• Be engaged in growing trees under a sound program of sustained yield management or 

• have tree growth in such quantity and quality as to be managed like a forest.

• Have a forestry management plan completed by a Certified Forester.

• Have a copy of the Forest plan submitted to the Assessors office for review. The Forest plan will remain on file in the Assessors office.

• Adhere to the guidelines/recommendations of the Forest Plan.

• Be reviewed in the future, by the Assessors office, to confirm adherence to Forest Plan guidelines/recommendations.

The parcel must:

• Be a minimum of 3 acres.

• Be maintained in an open or natural condition for public use and enjoyment.

• Be included within a plan for preservation approved by state or local planning agencies or 

• Owner must execute a perpetual open space easement.

• Law limits the amount of land eligible for enrollment to 1500 acres per owner per county.

• Individuals who own property with others or as part of a corporation are credited with their proportionate share of the acreage towards the 1500 acre cap.

• All property enrolled in program is subject to “rollback”, when it no longer qualifies for Greenbelt status. (see rollback assessment)

• Repayment of the taxes saved while the land was classified as greenbelt

• A recapture period of 3 years for Agricultural and Forest Land, and 5 years for Open Space Land

• Payable from the date the Assessor provides the owner with written notice, but is not delinquent until 1 March of the following year.

• Not a penalty. It is repayment of the savings enjoyed for the previous 3 years.

• Parcel size or use no longer qualifies for Greenbelt.

• Owner requests in writing that the classification be withdrawn.

• The property is being developed by means of a recorded subdivision plat or unrecorded plan of development.

• The property has been sold and is being converted to a use other than Greenbelt.

• Contact the Assessors Office

• Refer to Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA), Title 67, Chapter 5, Part 10, which contains all rules and requirements.