81R8409 JE-D
By: Kleinschmidt H.B. No. 2150
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of land for ad valorem tax appraisal as
qualified open-space land.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 23.51(7), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(7) "Wildlife management" means:
(A) actively using land [that at the time the
wildlife-management use began was appraised as qualified
open-space land under this subchapter] in at least three of the
following ways to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or
wintering population of indigenous wild animals for human use,
including food, medicine, or recreation:
(i) habitat control;
(ii) erosion control;
(iii) predator control;
(iv) providing supplemental supplies of
water;
(v) providing supplemental supplies of
food;
(vi) providing shelters; and
(vii) making of census counts to determine
population;
(B) actively using land to protect federally
listed endangered species under a federal permit if the land is:
(i) included in a habitat preserve and is
subject to a conservation easement created under Chapter 183,
Natural Resources Code; or
(ii) part of a conservation development
under a federally approved habitat conservation plan that restricts
the use of the land to protect federally listed endangered species;
or
(C) actively using land for a conservation or
restoration project to provide compensation for natural resource
damages pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Section 9601 et
seq.), the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. Section 2701 et
seq.), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section
1251 et seq.), or Chapter 40, Natural Resources Code.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 23.522 to read as follows:
Sec. 23.522. TEMPORARY CESSATION OF AGRICULTURAL USE TO
REQUIRED DEGREE OF INTENSITY. The eligibility of land for
appraisal under this subchapter does not end because the land
ceases to be devoted principally to agricultural use, including
wildlife management, to the degree of intensity generally accepted
in the area if:
(1) the owner of the land intends that the use of the
land in that manner and to that degree of intensity be resumed
within two years of the year in which the land ceases to be used in
that manner or to that degree of intensity; and
(2) the land does not cease to be used in that manner
or to that degree of intensity for more than two years in any
seven-year period.
SECTION 3. This Act applies only to the appraisal of land
for ad valorem tax purposes for a tax year that begins on or after
the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.