A new California bill, if passed, could help Central Coast families retain family-owned farms and ranch land as they are passed down from generation to generation.
This week, Congressman Jimmy Panetta introduced the Preserving Family Farms Act which aims to help family-owned farms continue operations by updating the special use valuation provision of the estate tax.
Joined by Jackie Walorski (R-IN-02), Panetta's act would increase the amount of farmland that can be valued for family farming operations and decrease the amount of farmland that must be valued for development purposes when someone inherits the property.
“Estate taxes on family-owned farms have forced families to split up the land they have spent generations building,” Panetta said in a press release. “Our Preserving Family Farms Act would ease this burden by ensuring that these farms are appraised by the value of their business, rather than development value."