By Alexander H.B. No. 829
75R3961 SMH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of land used
1-3 for wildlife management.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 23.51(7), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 (7) "Wildlife management" means actively using land
1-8 that at the time the wildlife-management use began was appraised as
1-9 qualified open-space land under this subchapter or as qualified
1-10 timber land under Subchapter E in at least three of the following
1-11 ways to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering
1-12 population of indigenous wild animals for human use, including
1-13 food, medicine, or recreation:
1-14 (A) habitat control;
1-15 (B) erosion control;
1-16 (C) predator control;
1-17 (D) providing supplemental supplies of water;
1-18 (E) providing supplemental supplies of food;
1-19 (F) providing shelters; and
1-20 (G) making of census counts to determine
1-21 population.
1-22 SECTION 2. Section 23.52, Tax Code, is amended by adding
1-23 Subsection (h) to read as follows:
1-24 (h) The category of land that qualifies under Section
2-1 23.51(7) is the category of the land under this subchapter or
2-2 Subchapter E, as applicable, before the wildlife-management use
2-3 began.
2-4 SECTION 3. Section 23.56, Tax Code, is amended to read as
2-5 follows:
2-6 Sec. 23.56. LAND INELIGIBLE FOR APPRAISAL AS OPEN-SPACE
2-7 LAND. Land is not eligible for appraisal as provided by this
2-8 subchapter if:
2-9 (1) the land is located inside the corporate limits of
2-10 an incorporated city or town, unless:
2-11 (A) the city or town is not providing the land
2-12 with governmental and proprietary services substantially equivalent
2-13 in standard and scope to those services it provides in other parts
2-14 of the city or town with similar topography, land utilization, and
2-15 population density; [or]
2-16 (B) the land has been devoted principally to
2-17 agricultural use continuously for the preceding five years; or
2-18 (C) the land:
2-19 (i) is devoted principally to
2-20 wildlife-management use; and
2-21 (ii) has been devoted principally in each
2-22 of the preceding five years to wildlife-management use or to the
2-23 production of timber or forest products;
2-24 (2) the land is owned by an individual who is a
2-25 nonresident alien or by a foreign government if that individual or
2-26 government is required by federal law or by rule adopted pursuant
2-27 to federal law to register his ownership or acquisition of that
3-1 property; or
3-2 (3) the land is owned by a corporation, partnership,
3-3 trust, or other legal entity if the entity is required by federal
3-4 law or by rule adopted pursuant to federal law to register its
3-5 ownership or acquisition of that land and a nonresident alien or a
3-6 foreign government or any combination of nonresident aliens and
3-7 foreign governments own a majority interest in the entity.
3-8 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.
3-9 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.