(1) The public policy of this state is to facilitate the transition of older logging equipment to newer equipment designed and manufactured to be as environmentally sensitive as current technology can provide, consistent with the need to match the equipment to the specifics of the site being harvested.
(2) Personal property taxes paid on logging equipment act as a disincentive to a transition to environmentally sensitive technology, because older equipment has a lower assessed value and therefore generates a correspondingly reduced property tax liability. In contrast, newer equipment, the use of which benefits the environment more than the use of older equipment, has a higher assessed value and a correspondingly higher property tax liability.
(3) A property tax incentive is a means of facilitating the transition to newer, environmentally sensitive equipment and accomplishing the declared public policy. [1999 c.957 §2]