| 2 | | - | (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2017; March 6, 2017, |
|---|
| 3 | | - | read first time and referred to Committee on Finance; |
|---|
| 4 | | - | April 3, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 14, |
|---|
| 5 | | - | Nays 0; April 3, 2017, sent to printer.) |
|---|
| 6 | | - | Click here to see the committee vote |
|---|
| 2 | + | (Springer) |
|---|
| 7 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 8 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 9 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 10 | 6 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 11 | 7 | | relating to the eligibility of land used as an ecological |
|---|
| 12 | 8 | | laboratory for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified |
|---|
| 13 | 9 | | open-space land. |
|---|
| 14 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 15 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 23.51(1), Tax Code, is amended to read as |
|---|
| 16 | 12 | | follows: |
|---|
| 17 | 13 | | (1) "Qualified open-space land" means land that is |
|---|
| 18 | 14 | | currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of |
|---|
| 19 | 15 | | intensity generally accepted in the area and that has been devoted |
|---|
| 20 | 16 | | principally to agricultural use or to production of timber or |
|---|
| 21 | 17 | | forest products for five of the preceding seven years or land that |
|---|
| 22 | 18 | | is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a public or |
|---|
| 23 | 19 | | private college or university. Qualified open-space land includes |
|---|
| 24 | 20 | | all appurtenances to the land. For the purposes of this |
|---|
| 25 | 21 | | subdivision, appurtenances to the land means private roads, dams, |
|---|
| 26 | 22 | | reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches, terraces, and other |
|---|
| 27 | 23 | | reshapings of the soil, fences, and riparian water rights. |
|---|
| 28 | 24 | | Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subdivision: |
|---|
| 29 | 25 | | (A) [,] land that is currently devoted |
|---|
| 30 | 26 | | principally to wildlife management as defined by Subdivision (7)(B) |
|---|
| 31 | 27 | | or (C) to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area |
|---|
| 32 | 28 | | qualifies for appraisal as qualified open-space land under this |
|---|
| 33 | 29 | | subchapter regardless of the manner in which the land was used in |
|---|
| 34 | 30 | | any preceding year; and |
|---|
| 35 | 31 | | (B) land that is used principally as an |
|---|
| 36 | 32 | | ecological laboratory by a public or private college or university |
|---|
| 37 | 33 | | does not qualify for appraisal as qualified open-space land under |
|---|
| 38 | 34 | | this subchapter on the basis of that use unless the land was |
|---|
| 39 | 35 | | appraised as qualified open-space land under this subchapter on the |
|---|
| 40 | 36 | | basis of that use for the 2017 tax year. |
|---|
| 41 | 37 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies only to the appraisal of land |
|---|
| 42 | 38 | | for ad valorem tax purposes for a tax year that begins on or after |
|---|
| 43 | 39 | | the effective date of this Act. |
|---|
| 44 | 40 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2018. |
|---|