Connecticut farmers are officially in trouble. The state’s farmland tax program, Public Act 490, was supposed to protect farmers by keeping taxes low. Instead, the latest property reassessments are slapping farms with triple-digit increases — sometimes as much as 300%.
Yes, you read that right. A farm that’s been in a family for generations could now face a tax bill that makes farming unprofitable overnight. Crops aren’t the problem — spreadsheets are.
Farmers have had enough. They marched to Hartford, petitions in hand, demanding a moratorium on the new assessments. “Seven generations worked this land, now the state is pushing us out,” says Ben Lewis, whose family has farmed for centuries. Kim Grijalva, running a 100-acre cattle farm, is staring down a tripling of her taxes despite slim profits.
State officials claim these reassessments are just “updates” based on survey data. Sure. Nothing says “we understand farming” like taking someone’s life work and multiplying their taxes by three before spring planting.
The result? Farmers are worried that Connecticut isn’t just taxing them — it’s killing family farms. And if you think these numbers are small, think again: for many, it’s literally the difference between farming and folding up the farm for good.
Connecticut promised to protect its farmland. Instead, it seems to be auctioning it off to the highest tax bill.
Keep it weird,
