By: Haywood S.B. No. 1396 Line and page numbers may not match official copy. Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E. A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to the valuation of open space land that was acquired from 1-2 a governmental entity. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. Amend Property Tax Code Section 23.51(1) to read 1-5 as follows: (1) "Qualified open-space land" means: 1-6 (A) land that is currently devoted principally to agricultural use 1-7 to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area and that 1-8 has either: 1-9 (i) been devoted principally to agricultural use or to 1-10 production of timber or forest products for five of the preceding 1-11 seven years, or 1-12 (ii) was owned by the state for the preceding seven 1-13 years; or, 1-14 (B) land that is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a 1-15 public or private college or university. Qualified open-space land 1-16 includes all appurtenances to the land. For the purposes of this 1-17 subdivision, appurtenances to the land means private roads, dams, 1-18 reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches, terraces, and other 1-19 reshapings of the soil, fences, and riparian water rights. 1-20 SECTION 2. Amend Property Tax Code Sec. 23.56 to read as 1-21 follows: Sec. 23.56. Land Ineligible for Appraisal as Open-Space 1-22 Land 2-1 Land, other than land that was owned by the state for the 2-2 preceding seven years, is not eligible for appraisal as provided by 2-3 this subchapter if: 2-4 (1) the land is located inside the corporate limits of an 2-5 incorporated city or town, unless: 2-6 (A) the city or town is not providing the land with 2-7 governmental and proprietary services substantially equivalent in 2-8 standard and scope to those services it provides in other parts of 2-9 the city or town with similar topography, land utilization, and 2-10 population density; or 2-11 (B) the land has been devoted principally to agricultural 2-12 use continuously for the preceding five years; 2-13 (2) the land is owned by an individual who is a nonresident 2-14 alien or by a foreign government if that individual or government 2-15 is required by federal law or by rule adopted pursuant to federal 2-16 law to register his ownership or acquisition of that property; or 2-17 (3) the land is owned by a corporation, partnership, trust, 2-18 or other legal entity if the entity is required by federal law or 2-19 by rule adopted pursuant to federal law to register its ownership 2-20 or acquisition of that land and a nonresident alien or a foreign 2-21 government or any combination of nonresident aliens and foreign 2-22 governments own a majority interest in the entity. 2-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.