Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4209 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Murr H.B. No. 4209
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the valuation of appraised value of qualified
7	7	open-space land.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 23.51, Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Texas
10	10	Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 23.51. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
12	12	(1) "Qualified open-space land" means land that is
13	13	currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of
14	14	intensity generally accepted in the area and that has been devoted
15	15	principally to agricultural use or to production of timber or
16	16	forest products for five of the preceding seven years or land that
17	17	is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a public or
18	18	private college or university and that has been used principally in
19	19	that manner by a college or university for five of the preceding
20	20	seven years. Qualified open-space land includes all appurtenances
21	21	to the land. For the purposes of this subdivision, appurtenances to
22	22	the land means private roads, dams, reservoirs, water wells,
23	23	canals, ditches, terraces, and other reshapings of the soil,
24	24	fences, and riparian water rights. Notwithstanding the other
25	25	provisions of this subdivision, land that is currently devoted
26	26	principally to wildlife management as defined by Subdivision (7)(B)
27	27	or (C) to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area
28	28	qualifies for appraisal as qualified open-space land under this
29	29	subchapter regardless of the manner in which the land was used in
30	30	any preceding year.
31	31	(2) "Agricultural use" includes but is not limited to
32	32	the following activities: cultivating the soil, producing crops for
33	33	human food, animal feed, or planting seed or for the production of
34	34	fibers; floriculture, viticulture, and horticulture; raising or
35	35	keeping livestock; raising or keeping exotic animals for the
36	36	production of human food or of fiber, leather, pelts, or other
37	37	tangible products having a commercial value; planting cover crops
38	38	or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in a
39	39	governmental program, provided the land is not used for residential
40	40	purposes or a purpose inconsistent with agricultural use; and
41	41	planting cover crops or leaving land idle in conjunction with
42	42	normal crop or livestock rotation procedure. The term also
43	43	includes the use of land to produce or harvest logs and posts for
44	44	the use in constructing or repairing fences, pens, barns, or other
45	45	agricultural improvements on adjacent qualified open-space land
46	46	having the same owner and devoted to a different agricultural use.
47	47	The term also includes the use of land for wildlife management. The
48	48	term also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for
49	49	pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible
50	50	products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is
51	51	not less than 5 or more than 20 acres.
52	52	(3) "Category" means the value classification of land
53	53	considering the agricultural use to which the land is principally
54	54	devoted. The chief appraiser shall determine the categories into
55	55	which land in the appraisal district is classified. In classifying
56	56	land according to categories, the chief appraiser shall distinguish
57	57	between irrigated cropland, dry cropland, improved pasture, native
58	58	pasture, orchard, and waste. The chief appraiser may establish
59	59	additional categories. The chief appraiser shall further divide
60	60	each category according to soil type, soil capability, irrigation,
61	61	general topography, geographical factors, and other factors that
62	62	influence the productive capacity of the category. The chief
63	63	appraiser shall obtain information from the Texas Agricultural
64	64	Extension Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service of
65	65	the United States Department of Agriculture, and other recognized
66	66	agricultural sources for the purposes of determining the categories
67	67	of land existing in the appraisal district.
68	68	(4) "Net to land" means the average annual net income
69	69	derived from the use of open-space land that would have been earned
70	70	from the land during the five-year period preceding the year before
71	71	the appraisal by an owner using ordinary prudence in the management
72	72	of the land and the farm crops or livestock produced or supported on
73	73	the land. [and, in addition, any income received from hunting or
74	74	recreational leases]. The chief appraiser shall calculate net to
75	75	land by considering the income that would be due to the owner of the
76	76	land under cash lease, share lease, or whatever lease arrangement
77	77	is typical in that area for that category of land, and all expenses
78	78	directly attributable to the agricultural use of the land by the
79	79	owner shall be subtracted from this owner income and the results
80	80	shall be used in income capitalization. In calculating net to land,
81	81	a reasonable deduction shall be made for any depletion that occurs
82	82	of underground water used in the agricultural operation. For land
83	83	that qualifies under Subdivision (7) for appraisal under this
84	84	subchapter, the chief appraiser may not consider in the calculation
85	85	of net to land the income that would be due to the owner under a
86	86	hunting or recreational lease of the land.
87	87	(5) "Income capitalization" means the process of
88	88	dividing net to land by the capitalization rate to determine the
89	89	appraised value.
90	90	(6) "Exotic animal" means a species of game not
91	91	indigenous to this state, including axis deer, nilga antelope, red
92	92	sheep, other cloven-hoofed ruminant mammals, or exotic fowl as
93	93	defined by Section 142.001, Agriculture Code.
94	94	(7) "Wildlife management" means:
95	95	(A) actively using land that at the time the
96	96	wildlife-management use began was appraised as qualified
97	97	open-space land under this subchapter or as qualified timber land
98	98	under Subchapter E in at least three of the following ways to
99	99	propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering
100	100	population of indigenous wild animals for human use, including
101	101	food, medicine, or recreation:
102	102	(i) habitat control;
103	103	(ii) erosion control;
104	104	(iii) predator control;
105	105	(iv) providing supplemental supplies of
106	106	water;
107	107	(v) providing supplemental supplies of
108	108	food;
109	109	(vi) providing shelters; and
110	110	(vii) making of census counts to determine
111	111	population;
112	112	(B) actively using land to protect federally
113	113	listed endangered species under a federal permit if the land is:
114	114	(i) included in a habitat preserve and is
115	115	subject to a conservation easement created under Chapter 183,
116	116	Natural Resources Code; or
117	117	(ii) part of a conservation development
118	118	under a federally approved habitat conservation plan that restricts
119	119	the use of the land to protect federally listed endangered species;
120	120	or
121	121	(C) actively using land for a conservation or
122	122	restoration project to provide compensation for natural resource
123	123	damages pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
124	124	Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Section 9601 et
125	125	seq.), the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. Section 2701 et
126	126	seq.), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section
127	127	1251 et seq.), or Chapter 40, Natural Resources Code.
128	128	(8) "Endangered species," "federal permit," and
129	129	"habitat preserve" have the meanings assigned by Section 83.011,
130	130	Parks and Wildlife
131	131	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.