Amend HB 2491 adding the following SECTIONS, appropriately
numbered, and renumbering the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subdivision (3), Section 23.51, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) "Category" means the value classification of land
considering the agricultural use to which the land is principally
devoted. The chief appraiser shall determine the categories into
which land in the appraisal district is classified. In classifying
land according to categories, the chief appraiser shall distinguish
between [Categories of land may include but are not limited to]
irrigated cropland, dry cropland, improved pasture, native
pasture, orchard, and waste. The chief appraiser may establish
additional categories. The chief appraiser shall [and may be]
further divide each category [divided] according to soil type, soil
capability, irrigation, general topography, geographical factors,
and other factors that [which] influence the productive capacity of
the category. The chief appraiser shall obtain information from
the Texas Agricultural [Agriculture] Extension Service, the
Natural Resources [Soil] Conservation Service of the United States
Department of Agriculture, and other recognized agricultural
sources for the purposes of determining the categories of land
[production] existing in the appraisal district.