| TO: | Honorable Fred Hill, Chair, House Committee on Local Government Ways and Means |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB3136 by Wilson (Relating to the calculation of net to land in the ad valorem tax appraisal of open-space land used for wildlife management.), As Introduced |
The bill would prohibit a chief appraiser from considering in the calculation of "net to land," in the appraisal of open-space land, the income that would be due to the owner of the land under a lease entered into for the purpose of qualifying the land under wildlife management use.
The bill would codify methods generally used by appraisal districts in appraising land qualified for special appraisal through wildlife management use. The Comptroller's publication Guidelines for Qualification of Agricultural Land in Wildlife Management states: "The wildlife management use is a revenue neutral use of land. The owner who switches from another agricultural use to wildlife management use must pay the same amount of property taxes that would have been paid if the land had remained in its former agricultural use." The Guidelines were adopted by rule in 2002. Passage of this bill may change taxable property values in districts that are currently considering wildlife related lease income in appraisals.
| Source Agencies: | 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 802 Parks and Wildlife Department
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| LBB Staff: | JK, SD, WP, DLBe
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