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SECTION 1. Section 23.51,
Tax Code, is amended by amending Subdivisions (1) and (2) and adding
Subdivision (9) to read as follows:
(1) "Qualified
open-space land" means land that is currently devoted principally to
agricultural use to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area
and that has been devoted principally to agricultural use or to production
of timber or forest products for five of the preceding seven years or land
that is used principally as an ecological laboratory by a public or private
college or university. In determining whether agricultural use meets
the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area, a chief appraiser
shall consider the cumulative effect of all agricultural uses of a tract of
land, including producing crops and raising or keeping livestock, and not
each use in isolation. A chief appraiser shall distinguish between the
degree of intensity required for various agricultural production methods,
including organic, sustainable, pastured poultry, rotational grazing, and
other unconventional production methods or systems. Qualified
open-space land includes all appurtenances to the land. For the purposes
of this subdivision, appurtenances to the land means private roads, dams,
reservoirs, water wells, canals, ditches, terraces, and other reshapings of
the soil, fences, and riparian water rights. Notwithstanding the other
provisions of this subdivision, land that is currently devoted principally
to wildlife management as defined by Subdivision (7)(B) or (C) to the
degree of intensity generally accepted in the area qualifies for appraisal
as qualified open-space land under this subchapter regardless of the manner
in which the land was used in any preceding year. Except as otherwise
provided by this subchapter, a tract of land may not be disqualified for
appraisal as qualified open-space land under this subchapter solely on the
basis of the size of the tract, provided that the tract is at least 1.5
acres in size.
(2) "Agricultural
use" includes but is not limited to the following activities:
cultivating the soil, producing crops for human food, animal feed, or
planting seed or for the production of fibers; producing fruits and
vegetables; floriculture, viticulture, and horticulture; raising or
keeping livestock; raising or keeping exotic animals for the production of
human food or of fiber, leather, pelts, or other tangible products having a
commercial value; planting cover crops or leaving land idle for the purpose
of participating in a governmental program, provided the land is not used
for residential purposes or a purpose inconsistent with agricultural use;
and planting cover crops or leaving land idle in conjunction with normal
crop or livestock rotation procedure. The term also includes the use of
land to produce or harvest logs and posts for the use in constructing or
repairing fences, pens, barns, or other agricultural improvements on
adjacent qualified open-space land having the same owner and devoted to a
different agricultural use. The term also includes the use of land for
wildlife management. The term also includes the use of land to raise or
keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other
tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is
not less than 5 or more than 20 acres. The term also includes the use of
land for a not-for-profit community
garden.
(9) "Not-for-profit community garden" means
land gardened by a cooperative group of people residing in a neighborhood
or community for the purpose of providing without profit fresh produce for
the benefit of the residents of the neighborhood or community.
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SECTION 1. Section 23.51,
Tax Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivision (9)
to read as follows:
No
equivalent provision.
(2) "Agricultural
use" includes but is not limited to the following activities:
cultivating the soil, producing crops for human food, animal feed, or planting
seed or for the production of fibers; producing fruits and vegetables;
floriculture, viticulture, and horticulture; raising or keeping livestock;
raising or keeping exotic animals for the production of human food or of
fiber, leather, pelts, or other tangible products having a commercial
value; planting cover crops or leaving land idle for the purpose of
participating in a governmental program, provided the land is not used for
residential purposes or a purpose inconsistent with agricultural use; and planting
cover crops or leaving land idle in conjunction with normal crop or
livestock rotation procedure. The term also includes the use of land to
produce or harvest logs and posts for the use in constructing or repairing
fences, pens, barns, or other agricultural improvements on adjacent
qualified open-space land having the same owner and devoted to a different
agricultural use. The term also includes the use of land for wildlife
management. The term also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for
pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products
having a commercial value, provided that the land used is not less than 5
or more than 20 acres. The term also includes the use of land for a nonprofit community garden.
(9) "Nonprofit community garden" means land owned or leased by a nonprofit entity, as defined
by Section 1.002, Business Organizations Code, and gardened by a
cooperative group of people residing in a neighborhood or community for the
purpose of providing without profit fresh produce for the benefit of the
residents of the neighborhood or community.
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No
equivalent provision.
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SECTION 2. Subchapter D,
Chapter 23, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 23.5215 to read as
follows:
Sec. 23.5215. GUIDELINES
FOR QUALIFICATION OF SMALL TRACTS AND NONPROFIT COMMUNITY GARDENS. (a)
This subsection applies only to land located in a taxing unit that is
located wholly or partly in a county with a population of one million or
more. The comptroller shall develop guidelines for determining whether
land under 10 acres in size used for the production of fruits, vegetables,
poultry, hogs, sheep, or goats qualifies for appraisal under this
subchapter.
(b) The comptroller, in
consultation with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and
individuals selected by the comptroller who are nonprofit community garden
stakeholders, shall develop guidelines consistent with the definition
provided by Section 23.51(9) for determining whether land qualifies as a
nonprofit community garden for appraisal under this subchapter.
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No
equivalent provision.
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SECTION 3. (a) Not later
than September 1, 2014, the comptroller shall develop guidelines required
by Section 23.5215(a), Tax Code, as added by this Act, and shall distribute
those guidelines to each appraisal district.
(b) Not later than September
1, 2014, the comptroller, in consultation with the Texas A&M AgriLife
Extension Service and individuals selected by the comptroller who are
nonprofit community garden stakeholders, shall develop guidelines required
by Section 23.5215(b), Tax Code, as added by this Act, and shall distribute
those guidelines to each appraisal district.
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