RI Farm Bureau Cites Warren State Senator

A state senator who represents Warren and Bristol was among three legislators honored Thursday, Nov. 21, by the Rhode Island Farm Bureau.

Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr. (D-Dist. 10, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton) received a new award, the “Navigator.” It was created to honor legislators or officials who were “instrumental in helping the organization deal with and address concerns about government regulations and procedures.” 

Felag was honored during the organization’s 60th annual awards event at the West Valley Inn in West Warwick.

Sen. Felag was a Senate sponsor of legislation incorporated into the state budget that requires the state to assess inherited working farmland at its use value, not its higher cash value, for inheritance tax purposes, according to a Farm Bureau press release.

Previously, family farms were assessed at their “full and fair” cash value, the value of the land if it were to be developed, according to the Farm Bureau. Although an average Rhode Island family farm is about 50 acres and might be worth about $650,000 as a working farm, it could be worth around $5 million as house lots, costing the heirs about $500,000 in inheritance taxes. The result has often been that heirs of the farm were forced to sell all or part of the land to pay the tax bill.

The assessment procedure change acknowledges that farmland is a valuable asset to the state and may help prevent family farms from being driven out of business, according to the Farm Bureau. 

Sen. Felag, first elected to the Senate in 1998, is the chair of the Senate Committee on Special Legislation and Veterans’ Affairs and second vice chair of the finance committee.