How to start a small maple business?

[TapTapTap]

I know a guy in the town xyz in Connecticut that has 400 taps and because of it and 8 chickens that guard the taps, he goes from owing $12,000 ( 12 thousand ) a year on his property to something like $8 ( 8 dollars ) a year.
.

I don't know how it works in CT. But in Vermont we have Current Use which allows a landowner to be taxed at a reduced value for silviculture or agriculture use. I know most about it from the silviculture perspective which includes maple sap production. In general, Current Use includes the following:

- State of Vermont Sets the Land Value which is then taxed by the Towns at their tax rate.
- The idea is that the forest land is valued at its worth as forest land, not at the value with consideration for development into a greater use.
- The State of Vermont has a lien on your property. If you want out of Current Use then you need to pay up and the lien is released.
- Minimum size lot is 25 contiguous acres
- You're required to have a forestry management plan, and to follow the plan
- If there is a house on the property, a minimum of 2 acres is carved out of the program and is taxed at the normal municipal rates.

I suspect that the program is very similar in Connecticut and I doubt the yearly real estate taxes would decrease from $12,000 to just $8, especially if his residence is at the property.

Another point is that in Vermont, as I assume for CT, we don't need to be into maple sugaring to qualify. Having a forestry management plan with a commitment to land conservation, silviculture, and improving the health of the forest is all that is required. Therefore, you can't really use the excuse that you'll save $11,992/yr to spend on sugaring equipment although I would still make that assertion to my wife.

Ken

[johnallin]

We get calls about this several times each year ranging from:

1. looking for energy efficiency conversion grants (which do exist in some places at various times), or
2. how can I get the government to buy me some land, an evaporator and all the other equipment, or
3. tell me "how do I get some of that free government money?"

Sometimes they suggest that they'll teach kids the process so should get a grant.

Occasionally they are under the impression that we should write the grant proposal (for a non-existent program) for them.

In some places there were grants at one time to help producers replace lead-containing equipment for new lead-free equipment, but those were very targeted programs.

My general answer is, if you find some of that free and easy government money then let me know how so I can do it. For the most part, it's like searching for a unicorn or bigfoot. You better enjoy the search because that's pretty much all you'll get out of it.

I think the glass ceiling the OP is looking through is Rose Colored.

[Sugar Bear]

I suspect that the program is very similar in Connecticut and I doubt the yearly real estate taxes would decrease from $12,000 to just $8, especially if his residence is at the property.

Ken

Ken

Doubting is more fashionable then ever in the year 2022.

But

So is lying through the teeth with the grace of a gazelle.

I doubted significantly the above information about his tax break when he first told me. So much so, that I asked the sugar maker/property owner a second time what his tax break was, thinking that I must have mistaken the $8 for $8000. On the second ask I was told again that it went from 12000 dollars to about 8 dollars. The chickens were part of the deal as well, he informed me. And yes the chickens guarding the taps part by me was a joke. I doubt they are very effective.

He did not imply that there were any other stipulations involved. In fact he told me that I could get a similar break on my 1 acre and only needed about 50 taps on it to qualify. Again I doubt that too. But I did not even bother to see if I could take advantage of that situation. Even if I could, I consider it below the belt of the other residence in the town. Just me and the way I am wired. If others want to take advantage of that then fine.

He could be a fashionable Lier. But I do not see the point. He does not fit the form, and he sold his place last summer for 1.7 million and moved to his other place to live out his years.

Not sure what deal the new owner has set forth.

Hope this tells it like it is, cause if it don't, I got nuttin!

[TapTapTap]

He could be a fashionable Lier. But I do not see the point. He does not fit the form, and he sold his place last summer for 1.7 million and moved to his other place to live out his years.

In Vermont, you can look up anyone's property tax online through each Town's grand list.

[Sugar Bear]

In Vermont, you can look up anyone's property tax online through each Town's grand list.

Ken

Here is how I break it down ...

yes I guess I can do that in CT as well.

Might have to hit up the Town Hall for that in CT, not sure.

But then if I do and the grand list says 12,000, does that mean he actually paid 12,000?

I guess it is also more fashionable to trust a piece of paper these days more then a person.

So if we are suspicious of both as we all should be then ...

Were back to the very wealthy man, with the sugar shack in his back yard, saying what he said and then last year selling his property with sugar bush in tact.

He would have had more prospected buyers to the property without the sugar trash ( the way most people look at it ) and the tax break he claims it created for him then with it.

I mean lets face it .... not a lot of people want to do $24000 worth of work for $12,000. A few like us do, but most don't.

So where is the motivation for him to be lying about his tax brake.

No financial motivation ( would get more money for the place without 436 miles of plastic tubing on it ) , but there is some sentimental motivation I guess ( wants to se the sugar shack live forever ) .

But it seems to me that in any kind of a sale, whether it be a sale of love or a sale of assets, that ...

Money frequently motivates lies.

Sentiment frequently motivates the truth.

The sale of his assets was a sale of sentiment from his standpoint.

PS hard freeze around here last night ... thinking of re tapping HA!