Campaigns & Elections

PA farmers slam Dr. Oz for cashing in on a major tax credit designed for farm and forestland

Oz bought a $3.1 million farmhouse in Montgomery County weeks after launching his Senate campaign in 2021.

Mehmet Oz greets supporters after the primary race in May.

Mehmet Oz greets supporters after the primary race in May. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

When Dr. Mehmet Oz purchased a farmhouse in Montgomery County last year, it raised more questions than it answered. As Oz, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, continues to have his residency questioned by critics, the land acquisition came with a $50,000-a-year tax break that has now added fuel to the fire for Democrats looking to label Oz as a carpetbagger that doesn’t care about Pennsylvania – only a Senate seat.

The tax rebate Oz benefits from is designed to encourage the preservation of farm or forestland. However, the program has overwhelmingly benefited wealthy landowners like Oz, and with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s report this week on Oz’s participation in the program, many farmers are taking exception to him allegedly “abusing” the tax break. 

“That $50,000 is a transfer of tax liability from him to other members and real estate owners in the township that he lives in,” said Dennis Wolff, former Department of Agriculture Secretary, during a Thursday morning press conference. “Many of them are not worth over $100 million like Dr. Oz. Many of them are living on a fixed income. Many of them go from Social Security check to Social Security check just to pay for their groceries and buy their prescription drugs.” 

The Clean & Green Program, originally established under Act 319, the Farmland and Forestland Assessment Act of 1974, is a preferential tax assessment program that bases property taxes on use values rather than fair market value. These assessments are based on the quality of soil and correlate with the potential earnings from the land. In areas such as Montgomery County where development is swallowing up land and increasing property taxes, this program allows farmers to remain profitable and hold back land from development by ensuring them a more favorable property tax assessment. 

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for Senate, was quick to jump on the issue and criticize Oz. 

“Dr. Oz, who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and owns 11 homes around the world … needs to explain to the people of Pennsylvania why he thinks he deserves a $50,000 tax credit that is meant for Pennsylvania’s hard working farmers,” Fetterman said in a statement.

Oz’s campaign has stressed that the tax break is commonly utilized by qualifying landowners. Oz told the Inquirer it’s an inherited property his family has been trying to purchase for a while, and that they plan to preserve the land. 

“Dr. Oz purchased the property in Bryn Athyn, where Lisa's family has lived for over 100 years, and inherited the tax credit as part of the purchase,” Brittany Yanick, communications director for Oz, said in a statement. “This is quite the contrast from John Fetterman, who has a history of not paying taxes and has relied on his family to support him into his late 40s.”

The 34-acre property in Lower Moreland Township was purchased for $3.1 million in 2021, just weeks after he launched his Senate campaign. The land has benefited from the Clean and Green program for more than 30 years under the qualification as a “forest reserve.” 

When transferring the property to Oz, his family was able to enroll in the program under the promise that they would preserve the forestland. Oz’s “forest reserve,” as it’s defined, is off limits to the public, unlike other Clean and Green agricultural properties which are publicly accessible.

Janet Lewis, a former Bradford County Commissioner who also owns farmland in the county, said Oz’s actions are “a slap in the face to farmers.”

“For him to have the audacity to take advantage of a tax relief program intended to help farmers with large acreage, it's disgusting. It shows that he has no concern nor any interest in Pennsylvania agriculture,” Lewis said at the press conference. “This man could never relate to Pennsylvania agriculture and its community.”

Harold Shaulis, a farmer from Somerset County, said he – “like most Pennsylvania farmers” – is a Republican, but that he’s had to go to the “other side” quite often over the last few years because of untrustworthy candidates. 

“My Clean and Green taxation was just over a $1,000 less (than Oz’s), and that was on 360 acres,” Shaulis said. “When I look out the window any place in the house, and I see corn, I see oats, I see hay, I see soybeans. I do not see any mansions.” 

Although the farmers emphasized the legality of Oz’s purchase, they didn’t downplay the message it portrayed to their community. 

“This is not necessarily a legal issue as much as it is an ethical issue,” Wolff said. “It's very frustrating as a farmer to see someone with that kind of wealth, that kind of net worth and that kind of earning potential using a program designed to help farmers justify what they pay in property taxes.” 

Dave Williams, a council member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, said this is more of a political hit than a tax controversy. He said the point of the Clean and Green Program is to preserve land but that it’s not limited to just farmers. 

“The whole purpose of Clean and Green is to actually preserve open land. Whoever buys it has to understand they can't subdivide it, and if they do, then they have to pay the back taxes for seven years,” Williams told City & State. “If a farmer has a problem (with the law), you need to go about it legislatively and change the system. That's what it is.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.