Clean & Green Rollback Taxes in PA: What Triggers Them (and What Doesn’t)

Clean & Green Rollback Taxes in PA: What Triggers Them (and What Doesn’t)

If you own farm or wooded land in PA, there’s a good chance it’s in Clean & Green. It saves you money every year. It can also bite you when you sell, split or build. Here’s how it works.

I’m Collin Boyer. I sell farms, and I also build homes, build or place manufactured homes, and develop and subdivide land. So your options aren’t only sell or don’t sell. You can list it, sell it directly to me, or split off a lot and build.

What Clean & Green is

It’s Pennsylvania’s preferential assessment program. Enrolled land gets taxed on its use value, not its full market value. To qualify, land generally has to be 10 acres or more in Agricultural Use, Agricultural Reserve or Forest Reserve. Ag Use land under 10 acres can qualify if it can meet the program’s minimum farm-income test (PA Department of Agriculture).

What rollback is

If you break the program’s rules (usually by changing the land to a use that doesn’t qualify), you owe rollback taxes. That’s the difference between what you paid under Clean & Green and what you would’ve paid otherwise, for up to the 7 most recent years, plus 6% simple interest a year (PDA; 7 Pa. Code §137b.89).

What triggers it

• Building houses or a commercial use on enrolled land

• Turning it into a use that doesn’t qualify

• Voluntarily pulling it out of the program

What doesn’t trigger it

• Selling it, by itself. If the buyer keeps it in a qualifying use, the sale alone doesn’t trigger rollback.

• A “separation.” That’s splitting the land into tracts that all stay in qualifying use, usually 10+ acres each. No rollback is due (PDA).

The split-off rule (building a house on the farm)

A split-off is dividing off a piece to build a house. The rules (PDA; 7 Pa. Code §137b.82):
- No more than 2 acres a year. The exception is when your township’s minimum residential lot is 2–3 acres; then the limit is that minimum.
- Total split-offs can never exceed the lesser of 10 acres or 10% of the land originally enrolled.
- Follow the rules and rollback is due only on the split-off piece, not the whole farm.
- Give the county assessor at least 30 days’ written notice before a planned split-off.

Get this wrong and rollback can hit the entire enrolled tract. Talk to the county assessment office before you split anything.

Who pays rollback when you sell?

That’s negotiable. If a developer or builder is buying to change the use, rollback is a real cost. Put it in the agreement of sale in black and white.

How big can rollback get?

It’s up to seven years of the tax savings, plus 6% simple interest on each year. On a big farm, that adds up. Get the real figure from your county assessor.

Call or text Collin at 717-991-5085.

This comes up constantly on farms in Lancaster, York, Adams and Franklin counties, where a lot of ground is enrolled in Clean & Green.

FAQ

What is the Clean and Green rollback tax in Pennsylvania?

It’s the difference between the taxes paid under Clean & Green and what would’ve been owed without it, for up to the 7 most recent years, plus 6% simple interest per year. It’s due when enrolled land changes to a non-qualifying use.

Does selling my farm trigger Clean and Green rollback?

Not by itself. If the land stays in a qualifying agricultural or forest use, the sale doesn’t trigger rollback. A change of use does.

How much land can I split off without rollback on the whole farm?

Up to 2 acres a year, or the township’s minimum residential lot size if that’s 2–3 acres. Total split-offs can’t exceed the lesser of 10 acres or 10% of the originally enrolled land. Rollback is due only on the split-off piece.

What are the requirements for Clean and Green in PA?

Generally 10 or more acres in Agricultural Use, Agricultural Reserve or Forest Reserve. Ag Use land under 10 acres can qualify if it meets the program’s minimum farm-income test.

Sources:
- PA Department of Agriculture, Clean and Green
- 7 Pa. Code §137b.82 (split-off)
- 7 Pa. Code §137b.89

Collin Boyer is a real estate agent with Real of Pennsylvania, serving all of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Licensed in Pennsylvania (RS353567) and Maryland (5014481). Call or text 717-991-5085. Real of Pennsylvania · (717) 344-5577. Equal Housing Opportunity. This post is general information, not legal or tax advice.