Tax Information And Guide

Tax Software The horses are gone. "Slim" is dead. But these aren't the only complications as Camden County debates whether to preserve a 58-acre landmark known as Slim's Ranch.

The Ernst & Young Tax Guide 2007 comes to tax filers' aid once again with the latest information on new tax laws, hundreds of tax tips, and the most common filing errors.

Software Tax For more than 30 years, families and children from throughout South Jersey rode horses owned by Frank "Slim" DeCicco. But in 1998, the Homestead Land Development Co. bought the popular farm for $1.7 million.

Just what state law creates such an exaggerated disparity in property taxes The farm exemption tax. Anyone owning more than five acres who cuts down trees annually, sells the wood, and realizes $600 in income qualifies for the farm exemption. Originally meant to help farmers keep their farms, farming landowners who are simply opportunists. It is high time the governor and the Legislature reform this old law. Then perhaps all of Trenton's talk about relieving homeowner taxes will be credible.

Every Landlord Tax Deduction With less than a month's notice, the horses were ordered off the property. Rich Fogel, who cared for the animals and managed the ranch shortly before it closed, remembers it this way:

Tax Help "One day, I saw surveyors out on the trail and around the barn, and I knew something was up."

tax act 2003, tax calendar, federal tax guide, tax guide, tax act 2002, 2003 tax act, 2006 tax deadline calendar, tax resources, 2006 tax guide, income tax news, tax news, tax return guides, 2006 tax preparer's guide, calendar of tax refunds, tax preparer resources, tax rate guide, home business tax resources, small business tax resources, tax act 2003, tax evasion news 2006, tax guides, 2006 federal tax act, 2006 tax guide 1040, 2006 us master tax guide, federal tax calendar

Help Tax He was right. There was a plan to build 678 units of senior housing at the ranch site, but that fell through.

Developed in 1998, CompleteTax is an online tax preparation tool aimed at the consumer market. use application handles federal and all state individual tax returns, enabled pages of detailed, read Tax Guide. Our parent company, CCH Tax and Accounting, is a leading provider of tax and business law information and software. In addition to tracking, reporting, and analyzing tax and related law for approximately 700 publications, CCH produces The ProSystem fx Office, winning suite of professional tax and accounting software.

Ernst Ernst Guide Guide Tax Now, the Homestead Land Development Co. has presented Camden County with an ultimatum of sorts: Pay $6 million to preserve the land as a park or the company will sell it to a home builder for the same price.

Tax Return Township officials say the saga of Slim's Ranch shows how a law designed to benefit farmers is helping developers. Under the Farmland Assessment law, landowners who plant small crops can qualify for tax breaks. The tax breaks reduce the developers' costs, making it easier for them to hold onto property until they're ready to build on it. In effect, a law designed partly to help reduce sprawl has instead encouraged it.

Return Tax The Courier-Post examined records and interviewed planners, tax officials and neighbors to piece together a record of what has happened to Slim's property and what's still at stake.

Guide Guide Master Master Tax For people who are sentimental about the ranch, and for residents who fear more home construction because schools are already overcrowded, it's a big issue.

Tax Preparation "It was a great place. A lot of families took their children there," said neighbor Jerry Marrone, whose two daughters enjoyed horseback riding at the ranch.

Preparation Tax Records show Homestead Land Development proposed - and the township approved - a conceptual plan to build a 678-unit senior housing complex that would have been called Water's Edge.

Employer Tax Guide Assuming the condominiums and apartments had been built for about $110,000 each, township tax assessor Chuck Palumbo said the value of the property would have soared.

Tax Services The company's original $1.7 million investment would have increased in value to more than $74.5 million, Palumbo said.

Services Tax But the market for senior citizen housing is just too soft in blue-collar Gloucester Township, Palumbo explained. The deal fell apart.

Master Tax Guide That's when Homestead offered to sell its property to the county for $6 million. The county agreed to consider the proposal in the summer of 2001.

Tax Attorney County officials want to build a park at the site, which borders Timber Creek.

Attorney Tax The Homestead Co. is owned by the family of George Matteo Sr., who has built thousands of homes throughout South Jersey. The Matteos did not respond to repeated requests for interviews over the past two weeks.

Guide Law Tax If the county accepts the offer from the Matteos, the family would still make a handsome profit - getting more than three times what they paid for the land only four years ago.

Tax Accountant Despite the taxpayer-financed windfall, township residents, officials and neighbors of Slim's Ranch say the county might be smart to buy the land and preserve it.

Accountant Tax This 23-square-mile community is already 80 percent developed. Officials say they want to preserve what little open space is left for the township's 65,000 residents.

Circular Employer Tax Guide The county hired an appraiser last month to study the deal.

Income Tax Even while the Matteos and their Homestead Land Development Co. were trying to launch their big senior citizen housing project, they were making another application to the township.

Us Master Tax Guide George Matteo Sr. argued that on the Slim's Ranch site he shouldn't be taxed as a developer.

Property Tax Matteo said he would have crops planted on the land.

Irs Tax Form Matteo's application to be taxed as a farmer was approved.

Form Irs Tax Like many builders who are stuck with land they can't immediately develop, Matteo arranged to have 34 acres of rye planted, and he harvested some wood.

Tax Guide For Trader New Jersey's farmland tax laws are among the most lenient in the country. Farmers - or developers - need only prove that their land could someday yield $500 per year in agricultural product to win the lower tax assessment. By contrast, New York requires its farms to yield at least $10, 000 per year in agricultural product.

Online Tax If Matteo's property were taxed as vacant land, he would have paid more than $40,000 per year in taxes, Palumbo said. But because his property is taxed as a farm, he pays a total of $2,300 in property taxes per year for his 58 acres.

Guide Tax The average homeowner in Gloucester Township, who owns a quarter-acre of land, pays about $3,700 per year in property taxes, Palumbo said.

Tax Deduction If the state really wants to save farmland, a goal voters have supported around the region through open-space taxes, the law must be changed, said township planner David Benedetti.

Deduction Tax "All the farmland assessment does now is help the developer hold the land until the price meets his expectations," he said.

Guide Master Tax Us In a January interview with the Courier-Post, county parks director Bart Mueller praised the proposed plan to preserve Slim's Ranch as a county park.

Sales Tax "We want to try to acquire it and preserve it," Mueller said. "I would really consider this the poster child for open-space acquisition."

Federal Guide Tax Mueller, the former elected county surrogate, is being investigated by state and federal authorities over whether he misused campaign funds. He and the Matteo family, county officials acknowledge, are longtime friends. The Matteos hosted four fund-raising events for him at the Centerton Golf Club, which the Matteo family owns.

Federal Income Tax While Mueller touted the preservation plan in the Courier- Post interview, he has not lobbied to persuade the county to spend $6 million on the deal, said Jack Sworaski, in charge of environmental affairs for the county.

The Real Estate Investor Tax "Bart has recused himself from the discussions," Sworaski said.

State Tax If the county decides to make an offer on the land, it may be for what Matteo is asking, or less, said county spokesman Kevin McElroy. Gloucester Township's open-space fund, and money from the state's Green Acres program will likely be part of any purchase offer, McElroy said.

Ernst Young Tax Guide Fogel, who relocated his horses to Winslow, said he would like to see George Matteo sell Slim's Ranch to the county.

Federal Tax Form "He'll make some money, that's for sure," Fogel said. "But he'll lose his job as a farmer."

Federal Form Tax By Alan Guenther
Courier-Post - 2/17/2002

Topic: Sprawl

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]