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IOWA: WHERE ALL THE TREES ARE EXCEPTIONAL

April 24, 2006

They must really like odd trees in Hawaii, judging by their tax return instructions:

You may deduct up to $3,000 per exceptional tree for qualified expenditures you made during the taxable year to maintain the tree on your private property. The tree must be designated as an exceptional tree by the local county arborist advisory committee under chapter 58, HRS. Qualified expenditures are those expenses you incurred to maintain the exceptional tree (excluding interest) that are deemed “reasonably necessary” by a certified arborist.

While this is one income tax break Iowa doesn't have (one of the few, actually), our property tax rules speak for the trees:

The Department of Natural Resources, Forestry Bureau offers landowners property tax benefits to owners of forest or woodland. Landowners must enroll a minimum of two acres with 200 trees per acre. Acres exempted in 2000 were 559,843 acres. There are currently 36,145 exemptions.

A cynic might expect developers to plant 200 doomed saplings on each acre of development ground that is a season or two away from construction, just to get a tax break...

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