1-1 By: Ratliff S.B. No. 765
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 25, 1997; February 27, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 April 22, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 13, Nays 0; April 22, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Nixon
1-7 Amend S.B. No. 765 by adding the following new sections to the
1-8 bill, appropriately numbered, to read as follows and renumbering
1-9 subsequent sections of the bill appropriately:
1-10 SECTION ___. Section 23.72, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-11 follows:
1-12 Sec. 23.72. QUALIFICATION FOR PRODUCTIVITY APPRAISAL. Land
1-13 qualifies for appraisal as provided by this subchapter if it is
1-14 currently and actively devoted principally to production of timber
1-15 or forest products to the degree of intensity generally accepted in
1-16 the area with intent to produce income [and has been devoted
1-17 principally to production of timber or forest products or to
1-18 agricultural use that would qualify the land for appraisal under
1-19 Subchapter C or D of this chapter for five of the preceding seven
1-20 years].
1-21 SECTION ___. Section 23.73, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-22 follows:
1-23 Sec. 23.73. APPRAISAL OF QUALIFIED TIMBER LAND. (a) The
1-24 appraised value of qualified timber land is determined on the basis
1-25 of the category of the land, using accepted income capitalization
1-26 methods applied to average net to land. The appraised value so
1-27 determined may not exceed the market value of the land as
1-28 determined by other appraisal methods, except as provided by
1-29 Subsection (b).
1-30 (b) In each year until the end of the 12th year following
1-31 the first year in which the timber land qualifies for appraisal
1-32 under this subchapter after one or more years in which the land did
1-33 not qualify for appraisal under this subchapter, the appraised
1-34 value so determined may not exceed the lesser of the market value
1-35 of the land as determined by other appraisal methods or the
1-36 appraised value of the land according to Subchapter D as if the
1-37 land qualified for appraisal under that subchapter. In the first
1-38 year in which the limitation provided by this subsection may be
1-39 applied, the limitation may not be applied to more than 100 acres
1-40 of timber land consisting of one tract or contiguous tracts owned
1-41 by the same owner. In the following 12-year period the limitation
1-42 provided by this subsection may not be applied to more than 400
1-43 acres of timber land owned by the same owner.
1-44 (c) The comptroller by rule shall develop and distribute to
1-45 each appraisal office appraisal manuals setting forth this method
1-46 of appraising qualified timber land, and each appraisal office
1-47 shall use the appraisal manuals in appraising qualified timber
1-48 land. The comptroller by rule shall develop and the appraisal
1-49 office shall enforce procedures to verify that land meets the
1-50 conditions contained in Section 23.72 of this code. The rules,
1-51 before taking effect, must be approved by majority vote of a
1-52 committee comprised of the following officials or their designees:
1-53 the governor, the comptroller, the attorney general, the
1-54 agriculture commissioner, and the Commissioner of the General Land
1-55 Office.
1-56 (d) [(c)] For the purposes of this section and Section 23.76
1-57 [of this code], the chief appraiser also shall determine the market
1-58 value of qualified timber land and the appraised value of the
1-59 timber land according to Subchapter D as if the land qualified for
1-60 appraisal under that subchapter. The chief appraiser shall record
1-61 [both the market value and the appraised value] in the appraisal
1-62 records:
1-63 (1) the market value of the land;
1-64 (2) the appraised value of the land according to this
2-1 subchapter; and
2-2 (3) the appraised value of the land according to
2-3 Subchapter D as if the land qualified for appraisal under that
2-4 subchapter.
2-5 (e) [(d)] The appraisal of minerals or subsurface rights to
2-6 minerals is not within the provisions of this subchapter.
2-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2-8 AN ACT
2-9 relating to appraisal for property tax purposes of open-space land
2-10 that is converted to production of timber.
2-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
2-12 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 23, Tax Code, is amended by
2-13 adding Section 23.59 to read as follows:
2-14 Sec. 23.59. APPRAISAL OF OPEN-SPACE LAND THAT IS CONVERTED
2-15 TO TIMBER PRODUCTION. (a) If land that has been appraised under
2-16 this subchapter for at least five preceding years is converted to
2-17 production of timber after September 1, 1997, the owner may elect
2-18 to have the land continue to be appraised under this subchapter for
2-19 15 years after the date of the conversion, so long as the land
2-20 qualifies for appraisal as timber land under Subchapter E. In that
2-21 event, the land is deemed to be the same category of land under
2-22 this subchapter as it was immediately before conversion to timber
2-23 production.
2-24 (b) The election must be made by a new application filed as
2-25 provided by Section 23.54 and remains in effect for 15 years or
2-26 until a change in use of the land occurs.
2-27 (c) This section applies to the appraisal of land converted
2-28 to timber production only until the end of the tax year in which
2-29 the 15th anniversary of the date of the conversion occurs. In the
2-30 16th and subsequent years, the land shall be appraised as timber
2-31 land as provided by Subchapter E, so long as it qualifies as timber
2-32 land under Subchapter E.
2-33 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-34 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-35 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-36 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-37 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-38 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-39 * * * * *