84R555 SMH-D
By: Fletcher H.B. No. 1513
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the ad valorem taxation of qualified open-space land.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 23.51(1) and (2), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(1) "Qualified open-space land" means land that is
currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of
intensity generally accepted in the area and that has been devoted
principally to agricultural use or to production of timber or
forest products for five of the preceding seven years or for the
preceding year or land that is used principally as an ecological
laboratory by a public or private college or university. Qualified
open-space land includes all appurtenances to the land. For the
purposes of this subdivision, appurtenances to the land means
private roads, dams, reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches,
terraces, and other reshapings of the soil, fences, and riparian
water rights. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this
subdivision, land that is currently devoted principally to wildlife
management as defined by Subdivision (7)(B) or (C) to the degree of
intensity generally accepted in the area qualifies for appraisal as
qualified open-space land under this subchapter regardless of the
manner in which the land was used in any preceding year.
(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. The term also includes the use of land to raise or keep
bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other
tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land
used is not less than 2 [5] or more than 20 acres.
SECTION 2. Section 23.55(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) If the use of land that has been appraised as provided by
this subchapter changes, an additional tax is imposed on the land
equal to the difference between the taxes imposed on the land for
each of the two [five] years preceding the year in which the change
of use occurs that the land was appraised as provided by this
subchapter and the tax that would have been imposed had the land
been taxed on the basis of market value in each of those years, plus
interest at an annual rate of seven percent calculated from the
dates on which the differences would have become due. For purposes
of this subsection, the chief appraiser may not consider any period
during which land is owned by the state in determining whether a
change in the use of the land has occurred.
SECTION 3. Section 23.51, Tax Code, as amended by 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. Section 23.55, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
applies only to a change in the use of land appraised under
Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code, that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. A change in the use of land appraised
under Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code, that occurred before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the change in use occurred, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect January 1, 2016.