Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB449 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Watson, Estes S.B. No. 449
2	2	Seliger
3	3	(Ritter)
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of open-space
9	9	land devoted to water stewardship purposes on the basis of its
10	10	productive capacity.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 23.51, Tax Code, is amended by amending
13	13	Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivision (9) to read as follows:
14	14	(2) "Agricultural use" includes but is not limited to
15	15	the following activities: cultivating the soil, producing crops for
16	16	human food, animal feed, or planting seed or for the production of
17	17	fibers; floriculture, viticulture, and horticulture; raising or
18	18	keeping livestock; raising or keeping exotic animals for the
19	19	production of human food or of fiber, leather, pelts, or other
20	20	tangible products having a commercial value; planting cover crops
21	21	or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in a
22	22	governmental program, provided the land is not used for residential
23	23	purposes or a purpose inconsistent with agricultural use; and
24	24	planting cover crops or leaving land idle in conjunction with
25	25	normal crop or livestock rotation procedure. The term also
26	26	includes the use of land to produce or harvest logs and posts for
27	27	the use in constructing or repairing fences, pens, barns, or other
28	28	agricultural improvements on adjacent qualified open-space land
29	29	having the same owner and devoted to a different agricultural use.
30	30	The term also includes the use of land for wildlife management or
31	31	water stewardship.
32	32	(9) "Water stewardship" means actively using land that
33	33	at the time the water-stewardship use began was appraised as
34	34	qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as qualified
35	35	timber land under Subchapter E in at least three of the following
36	36	ways to promote and sustain water quality and conservation of water
37	37	resources:
38	38	(A) erosion control;
39	39	(B) habitat stewardship benefiting water quality
40	40	or conservation;
41	41	(C) restoration of native aquatic and riparian
42	42	animal and plant species;
43	43	(D) implementation of practices that result in a
44	44	reduction of the amount of water used from a well that is exempt
45	45	from permitting under Section 36.117(b)(1), Water Code;
46	46	(E) riparian and wetland habitat and buffer
47	47	restoration and protection;
48	48	(F) allowance of groundwater and surface water
49	49	monitoring for data collection purposes in accordance with state
50	50	water planning or groundwater management area planning;
51	51	(G) invasive aquatic plant and animal control;
52	52	(H) maintaining a water right on deposit in the
53	53	Texas Water Trust in accordance with Section 15.7031, Water Code,
54	54	if the source of supply or point of diversion is located on land
55	55	that at the time the water right was deposited was appraised as
56	56	qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as qualified
57	57	timber land under Subchapter E; and
58	58	(I) holding a water right that authorizes the use
59	59	of water for instream flows dedicated to environmental needs or bay
60	60	and estuary inflows as provided by Section 11.0237, Water Code, if
61	61	the source of supply or point of diversion is located on land that,
62	62	at the time the water right was amended to authorize that use, was
63	63	appraised as qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as
64	64	qualified timber land under Subchapter E.
65	65	SECTION 2. Subsection (g), Section 23.52, Tax Code, is
66	66	amended to read as follows:
67	67	(g) The category of land that qualifies under Section
68	68	23.51(7) or (9) is the category of the land under this subchapter or
69	69	Subchapter E, as applicable, before the wildlife-management use or
70	70	water-stewardship use, as applicable, began.
71	71	SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code, is amended by
72	72	adding Section 23.5215 to read as follows:
73	73	Sec. 23.5215. STANDARDS FOR QUALIFICATION OF LAND FOR
74	74	APPRAISAL BASED ON WATER-STEWARDSHIP USE. (a) The Parks and
75	75	Wildlife Department, with the assistance of the comptroller, shall
76	76	develop standards for determining whether land qualifies under
77	77	Section 23.51(9) for appraisal under this subchapter. On request
78	78	of the Parks and Wildlife Department or the comptroller, the Texas
79	79	AgriLife Extension Service shall assist the department and the
80	80	comptroller in developing the standards. The comptroller shall
81	81	designate one chief appraiser from a rural area of this state and
82	82	one chief appraiser from an urban area of this state to assist in
83	83	the development of the standards. The comptroller by rule shall
84	84	adopt the standards developed by the Parks and Wildlife Department
85	85	or adopt alternative standards and distribute those rules to each
86	86	appraisal district.
87	87	(b) The standards adopted under Subsection (a) must:
88	88	(1) require that a tract of land:
89	89	(A) be at least a specified minimum size and not
90	90	more than a specified maximum size as necessary to accomplish the
91	91	water-stewardship use; and
92	92	(B) possess specific water-related attributes
93	93	based on the intensity of use of the land and other requirements
94	94	relating to the productivity of the land;
95	95	(2) require that the owner of the land hold a water
96	96	right that authorizes the use of a specified minimum amount of water
97	97	for instream flows dedicated to environmental needs or bay and
98	98	estuary inflows for the land to qualify under Section 23.51(9)(I)
99	99	for appraisal under this subchapter;
100	100	(3) specify the degree to which the land may be
101	101	developed without becoming ineligible under Section 23.56(b) for
102	102	appraisal as provided by this subchapter on the basis of use for
103	103	water stewardship; and
104	104	(4) address:
105	105	(A) the activities listed in Section 23.51(9);
106	106	(B) the region in this state in which the land is
107	107	located; and
108	108	(C) any other factor the Parks and Wildlife
109	109	Department or the comptroller determines is relevant.
110	110	(c) The standards adopted under Subsection (a) must limit
111	111	eligibility of a tract of land for appraisal under this subchapter
112	112	on the basis of use for water stewardship to the portion of the
113	113	tract of land that is currently devoted principally to use for that
114	114	purpose.
115	115	(d) The standards adopted under Subsection (a) may include
116	116	specifications for a written management plan to be developed by a
117	117	landowner if the landowner receives a request for a written
118	118	management plan from a chief appraiser as part of a request for
119	119	additional information under Section 23.57.
120	120	(e) In determining whether land qualifies under Section
121	121	23.51(9) for appraisal under this subchapter, the chief appraiser
122	122	and the appraisal review board shall apply the standards adopted
123	123	under Subsection (a) and, to the extent they do not conflict with
124	124	those standards, the appraisal manuals developed and distributed
125	125	under Section 23.52(d).
126	126	SECTION 4. Section 23.56, Tax Code, is amended to read as
127	127	follows:
128	128	Sec. 23.56. LAND INELIGIBLE FOR APPRAISAL AS OPEN-SPACE
129	129	LAND. (a) Land is not eligible for appraisal as provided by this
130	130	subchapter if:
131	131	(1) the land is located inside the corporate limits of
132	132	an incorporated city or town, unless:
133	133	(A) the city or town is not providing the land
134	134	with governmental and proprietary services substantially
135	135	equivalent in standard and scope to those services it provides in
136	136	other parts of the city or town with similar topography, land
137	137	utilization, and population density;
138	138	(B) the land has been devoted principally to
139	139	agricultural use continuously for the preceding five years; or
140	140	(C) the land:
141	141	(i) has been devoted principally to
142	142	agricultural use or to production of timber or forest products
143	143	continuously for the preceding five years; and
144	144	(ii) is used for wildlife management or
145	145	water stewardship;
146	146	(2) the land is owned by an individual who is a
147	147	nonresident alien or by a foreign government if that individual or
148	148	government is required by federal law or by rule adopted pursuant to
149	149	federal law to register his ownership or acquisition of that
150	150	property; or
151	151	(3) the land is owned by a corporation, partnership,
152	152	trust, or other legal entity if the entity is required by federal
153	153	law or by rule adopted pursuant to federal law to register its
154	154	ownership or acquisition of that land and a nonresident alien or a
155	155	foreign government or any combination of nonresident aliens and
156	156	foreign governments own a majority interest in the entity.
157	157	(b) Land is not eligible for appraisal as provided by this
158	158	subchapter on the basis of use for water stewardship if:
159	159	(1) the land was appraised as qualified open-space
160	160	land under this subchapter at the time the water-stewardship use
161	161	began and the land is developed to a degree that precludes the land
162	162	from eligibility for appraisal under this subchapter on a basis
163	163	other than use for water stewardship; or
164	164	(2) the land was appraised as qualified timber land
165	165	under Subchapter E at the time the water-stewardship use began and
166	166	the land is developed to a degree that precludes the land from
167	167	eligibility for appraisal under that subchapter.
168	168	SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 23.60, Tax Code, is
169	169	amended to read as follows:
170	170	(a) An owner of qualified open-space land, other than land
171	171	used for wildlife management or water stewardship, on which the
172	172	Texas Animal Health Commission has established a temporary
173	173	quarantine of at least 90 days in length in the current tax year for
174	174	the purpose of regulating the handling of livestock and eradicating
175	175	ticks or exposure to ticks at any time during a tax year is entitled
176	176	to a reappraisal of the owner's land for that year on written
177	177	request delivered to the chief appraiser.
178	178	SECTION 6. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
179	179	date of this Act, the Parks and Wildlife Department, with the
180	180	assistance of the comptroller of public accounts, shall develop the
181	181	standards required by Section 23.5215, Tax Code, as added by this
182	182	Act. As soon as practicable after those standards are developed,
183	183	the comptroller by rule shall adopt those standards or adopt
184	184	alternative standards and distribute those rules to each appraisal
185	185	district as required by that section. The rules apply only to tax
186	186	years beginning after the tax year in which the rules are adopted
187	187	and distributed.
188	188	(b) This Act applies only to the appraisal of land for ad
189	189	valorem tax purposes for a tax year that begins after the tax year
190	190	in which the comptroller of public accounts adopts the rules
191	191	described by Subsection (a) of this section and distributes those
192	192	rules to each appraisal district.
193	193	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2012, but only
194	194	if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 82nd Legislature,
195	195	Regular Session, 2011, providing for the appraisal for ad valorem
196	196	tax purposes of open-space land devoted to water stewardship
197	197	purposes on the basis of its productive capacity is approved by the
198	198	voters. If that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act
199	199	has no effect.