Gov. Jared Polis signs law making tax exemption for greenhouse equipment permanent

Greenhouse farmers will be able to write off their agricultural equipment from their personal property taxes permanently under a law signed Friday by Gov. Jared Polis.

Passed as House Bill 1003 during the legislature’s special session last month, the law extends in perpetuity an exemption that was set to expire in tax year 2027. Personal property used to generate income for a business is typically taxed, though several exemptions exist.

This law extends the exemption that applies to agricultural equipment used on a farm or ranch to equipment used in controlled environmental agricultural facilities.

Nonpartisan legislative analysts did not have an estimate of how many facilities or how much money would be affected by the exemption.

“Colorado is proud to put food on tables across the state and around the world, and the success of our agricultural businesses and entrepreneurs is a key part of that,” Polis said in a news release after signing the bill into law during a ceremony at an Aurora greenhouse. “Today we are breaking down barriers and cutting taxes for Colorado greenhouses, helping to keep more money in the pockets of the hardworking Coloradans who help strengthen our economy.”

The measure was one of two bills to become law from the recently concluded special session on property taxes. The other, House Bill 1001, cut state assessment rates and was the lynchpin of a deal that stopped two ballot initiatives that would have forced deeper property tax cuts.

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