Unintended effects of preferential tax assessment on farmland protection: Evidence from Utah's farmland assessment act

Abstract

This study examines the effect of Utah's Greenbelt program, the state's preferential tax-assessment effort to protect farmland, using an instrumental variable-fixed effects strategy. We find that an unintended effect of the program leads to more conversion of agricultural land to development than the protection it provides. The protection effect is concentrated on parcels with smaller agricultural areas, while conversion occurs on parcels with larger agricultural areas. Our findings shed light on the rationale of a proposed amendment to the policy—Utah House Bill 25—which did not pass during the 2016 legislative session.