For Immediate Release
Farmers and ranchers may be eligible for property
tax relief on their land. They may apply to the Brazoria County Appraisal
District for agricultural productivity appraisal, a lower appraisal of their
land based on what it will produce, rather than what it would sell for on the
open market.
There are two types of agricultural productivity
appraisal, 1-d-1 and 1-d, named for the sections of the Texas Constitution that
authorize them. Most property owners apply for 1-d-1 appraisal. To qualify, the
owner must use the land for agriculture or growing timber. This form of
appraisal does not restrict ownership to individuals and does not require
agriculture to be the owner’s primary business. The land’s use in a qualifying
agricultural or timber purpose must meet the degree of intensity generally
accepted in the area. Owners must show that the land has been devoted
principally to the qualifying use for at least five of the preceding seven
years.
The qualifications for 1-d are more stringent.
Under 1-d, the owner must file an application for productivity appraisal each
year. The owner must be an individual — not a corporation, partnership, agency
or organization. The land must have had an agricultural use for at least three
years. The owner’s primary job and source of income must be agriculture.
The law provides penalties, in the form of a
rollback tax, for taking qualified land out of agriculture or timber
production. The rollback tax is the difference between the taxes paid under
productivity appraisal and the taxes that would have been paid if the land had
been put on the tax roll at market value. Rollback taxes include interest
charges.
Under 1-d-1, an owner triggers a rollback by
changing the land’s use to a non-agricultural use. Rollback taxes are based on
the five tax years preceding the year of the change.
Under 1-d, if the owner sells the land or changes its use, the rollback extends
back for the three years before the sale or change of use.
The law also allows a property owner to use land
for wildlife management and still receive the special appraisal, if the land
qualified for agriculture use in the preceding year. Land under wildlife
management must meet acreage size requirements and special use qualifications.
The deadline to apply for productivity appraisal is
April 30. Owners of land qualified as 1-d must file a new application every
year. Owners of land qualified as 1-d-1 need not file again in later years
unless the chief appraiser requests a new application.
For more information about productivity appraisal
and application forms, contact the Brazoria County Appraisal District at 500
North Chenango Angleton,