By: Watson, Estes S.B. No. 449
Seliger
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of open-space
land devoted to water stewardship purposes on the basis of its
productive capacity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 23.51, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivision (9) to read as follows:
(2) "Agricultural use" includes but is not limited to
the following activities: cultivating the soil, producing crops for
human food, animal feed, or planting seed or for the production of
fibers; floriculture, viticulture, and horticulture; raising or
keeping livestock; raising or keeping exotic animals for the
production of human food or of fiber, leather, pelts, or other
tangible products having a commercial value; planting cover crops
or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in a
governmental program, provided the land is not used for residential
purposes or a purpose inconsistent with agricultural use; and
planting cover crops or leaving land idle in conjunction with
normal crop or livestock rotation procedure. The term also
includes the use of land to produce or harvest logs and posts for
the use in constructing or repairing fences, pens, barns, or other
agricultural improvements on adjacent qualified open-space land
having the same owner and devoted to a different agricultural use.
The term also includes the use of land for wildlife management or
water stewardship.
(9) "Water stewardship" means actively using land that
at the time the water-stewardship use began was appraised as
qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as qualified
timber land under Subchapter E in at least three of the following
ways to promote and sustain water quality and conservation of water
resources:
(A) erosion control;
(B) habitat stewardship benefiting water quality
or conservation;
(C) restoration of native aquatic and riparian
animal and plant species;
(D) implementation of practices that result in a
reduction of the amount of water used from a well that is exempt
from permitting under Section 36.117(b)(1), Water Code;
(E) riparian and wetland habitat and buffer
restoration and protection;
(F) allowance of groundwater and surface water
monitoring for data collection purposes in accordance with state
water planning or groundwater management area planning;
(G) invasive aquatic plant and animal control;
(H) maintaining a water right on deposit in the
Texas Water Trust in accordance with Section 15.7031, Water Code,
if the source of supply or point of diversion is located on land
that at the time the water right was deposited was appraised as
qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as qualified
timber land under Subchapter E; and
(I) holding a water right that authorizes the use
of water for instream flows dedicated to environmental needs or bay
and estuary inflows as provided by Section 11.0237, Water Code, if
the source of supply or point of diversion is located on land that,
at the time the water right was amended to authorize that use, was
appraised as qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as
qualified timber land under Subchapter E.
SECTION 2. Subsection (g), Section 23.52, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) The category of land that qualifies under Section
23.51(7) or (9) is the category of the land under this subchapter or
Subchapter E, as applicable, before the wildlife-management use or
water-stewardship use, as applicable, began.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 23.5215 to read as follows:
Sec. 23.5215. STANDARDS FOR QUALIFICATION OF LAND FOR
APPRAISAL BASED ON WATER-STEWARDSHIP USE. (a) The Parks and
Wildlife Department, with the assistance of the comptroller, shall
develop standards for determining whether land qualifies under
Section 23.51(9) for appraisal under this subchapter. On request
of the Parks and Wildlife Department or the comptroller, the Texas
AgriLife Extension Service shall assist the department and the
comptroller in developing the standards. The comptroller shall
designate one chief appraiser from a rural area of this state and
one chief appraiser from an urban area of this state to assist in
the development of the standards. The comptroller by rule shall
adopt the standards developed by the Parks and Wildlife Department
or adopt alternative standards and distribute those rules to each
appraisal district.
(b) The standards adopted under Subsection (a) must:
(1) require that a tract of land:
(A) be at least a specified minimum size and not
more than a specified maximum size as necessary to accomplish the
water-stewardship use; and
(B) possess specific water-related attributes
based on the intensity of use of the land and other requirements
relating to the productivity of the land;
(2) require that the owner of the land hold a water
right that authorizes the use of a specified minimum amount of water
for instream flows dedicated to environmental needs or bay and
estuary inflows for the land to qualify under Section 23.51(9)(I)
for appraisal under this subchapter;
(3) specify the degree to which the land may be
developed without becoming ineligible under Section 23.56(b) for
appraisal as provided by this subchapter on the basis of use for
water stewardship; and
(4) address:
(A) the activities listed in Section 23.51(9);
(B) the region in this state in which the land is
located; and
(C) any other factor the Parks and Wildlife
Department or the comptroller determines is relevant.
(c) The standards adopted under Subsection (a) must limit
eligibility of a tract of land for appraisal under this subchapter
on the basis of use for water stewardship to the portion of the
tract of land that is currently devoted principally to use for that
purpose.
(d) The standards adopted under Subsection (a) may include
specifications for a written management plan to be developed by a
landowner if the landowner receives a request for a written
management plan from a chief appraiser as part of a request for
additional information under Section 23.57.
(e) In determining whether land qualifies under Section
23.51(9) for appraisal under this subchapter, the chief appraiser
and the appraisal review board shall apply the standards adopted
under Subsection (a) and, to the extent they do not conflict with
those standards, the appraisal manuals developed and distributed
under Section 23.52(d).
SECTION 4. Section 23.56, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 23.56. LAND INELIGIBLE FOR APPRAISAL AS OPEN-SPACE
LAND. (a) Land is not eligible for appraisal as provided by this
subchapter if:
(1) the land is located inside the corporate limits of
an incorporated city or town, unless:
(A) the city or town is not providing the land
with governmental and proprietary services substantially
equivalent in standard and scope to those services it provides in
other parts of the city or town with similar topography, land
utilization, and population density;
(B) the land has been devoted principally to
agricultural use continuously for the preceding five years; or
(C) the land:
(i) has been devoted principally to
agricultural use or to production of timber or forest products
continuously for the preceding five years; and
(ii) is used for wildlife management or
water stewardship;
(2) the land is owned by an individual who is a
nonresident alien or by a foreign government if that individual or
government is required by federal law or by rule adopted pursuant to
federal law to register his ownership or acquisition of that
property; or
(3) the land is owned by a corporation, partnership,
trust, or other legal entity if the entity is required by federal
law or by rule adopted pursuant to federal law to register its
ownership or acquisition of that land and a nonresident alien or a
foreign government or any combination of nonresident aliens and
foreign governments own a majority interest in the entity.
(b) Land is not eligible for appraisal as provided by this
subchapter on the basis of use for water stewardship if:
(1) the land was appraised as qualified open-space
land under this subchapter at the time the water-stewardship use
began and the land is developed to a degree that precludes the land
from eligibility for appraisal under this subchapter on a basis
other than use for water stewardship; or
(2) the land was appraised as qualified timber land
under Subchapter E at the time the water-stewardship use began and
the land is developed to a degree that precludes the land from
eligibility for appraisal under that subchapter.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 23.60, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An owner of qualified open-space land, other than land
used for wildlife management or water stewardship, on which the
Texas Animal Health Commission has established a temporary
quarantine of at least 90 days in length in the current tax year for
the purpose of regulating the handling of livestock and eradicating
ticks or exposure to ticks at any time during a tax year is entitled
to a reappraisal of the owner's land for that year on written
request delivered to the chief appraiser.
SECTION 6. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Parks and Wildlife Department, with the
assistance of the comptroller of public accounts, shall develop the
standards required by Section 23.5215, Tax Code, as added by this
Act. As soon as practicable after those standards are developed,
the comptroller by rule shall adopt those standards or adopt
alternative standards and distribute those rules to each appraisal
district as required by that section. The rules apply only to tax
years beginning after the tax year in which the rules are adopted
and distributed.
(b) This Act applies only to the appraisal of land for ad
valorem tax purposes for a tax year that begins after the tax year
in which the comptroller of public accounts adopts the rules
described by Subsection (a) of this section and distributes those
rules to each appraisal district.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2012, but only
if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 82nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2011, providing for the appraisal for ad valorem
tax purposes of open-space land devoted to water stewardship
purposes on the basis of its productive capacity is approved by the
voters. If that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act
has no effect.