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S1256......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS PROPERTY TAX - AGRICULTURAL LAND - Amends existing law to further define "land actively devoted to agriculture" to include land which is the subject of an irrigation buy-back contract between the owner and a power supplier. 03/15 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 03/16 Rpt prt - to Loc Gov 03/20 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 03/21 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 03/22 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-0-3 AYES -- Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Brandt, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron, Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes, Goedde, Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee, Lodge, Noh, Richardson, Risch, Schroeder, Sims, Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Thorne, Whitworth, Williams, NAYS -- None Absent and excused -- Hawkins, Sandy, Wheeler Floor Sponsor -- Stennett Title apvd - to House 03/22 House intro - 1st rdg - to Rev/Tax
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-sixth Legislature First Regular Session - 2001IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1256 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM TAXATION; AMENDING SECTION 63-604, IDAHO CODE, TO 3 FURTHER DEFINE "LAND ACTIVELY DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE" TO INCLUDE LAND 4 WHICH IS THE SUBJECT OF AN IRRIGATION BUY-BACK CONTRACT BETWEEN THE OWNER 5 AND A POWER SUPPLIER AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND DECLARING AN 6 EMERGENCY. 7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 8 SECTION 1. That Section 63-604, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 9 amended to read as follows: 10 63-604. LAND ACTIVELY DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE DEFINED. (1) For property 11 tax purposes, land which is actively devoted to agriculture shall be eligible 12 for appraisal, assessment and taxation as agricultural property each year it 13 meets one (1) or more of the following qualifications: 14 (a) The total area of such land, including the homesite, is more than 15 five (5) contiguous acres, and is actively devoted to agriculture which 16 means: 17 (i) It is used to produce field crops including, but not limited 18 to, grains, feed crops, fruits and vegetables; or 19 (ii) It is used by the owner for the grazing of livestock to be sold 20 as part of a net profit-making enterprise, or is leased by the owner 21 to a bona fide lessee for grazing purposes; or 22 (iii) It is in a cropland retirement or rotation program; or 23 (iv) The land is the subject of an irrigation buy-back contract 24 between the owner and a power supplier. 25 (b) The area of such land is five (5) acres or less and such land has 26 been actively devoted to agriculture within the meaning of subsection 27 (1)(a) of this section during the last three (3) growing seasons; and 28 (i) It agriculturally produces for sale or home consumption the 29 equivalent of fifteen percent (15%) or more of the owners' or les- 30 sees' annual gross income; or 31 (ii) It agriculturally produced gross revenues in the immediately 32 preceding year of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more. When the 33 area of land is five (5) acres or less, such land shall be presumed 34 to be nonagricultural land until it is established that the require- 35 ments of this subsection have been met. 36 (2) Land shall not be classified or valued as agricultural land which is 37 part of a platted subdivision with stated restrictions prohibiting its use for 38 agricultural purposes, whether within or without a city. 39 (3) Land utilized for the grazing of a horse or other animals kept pri- 40 marily for personal use or pleasure rather than as part of a bona fide profit- 41 making agricultural enterprise shall not be considered to be land which is 42 actively devoted to agriculture. 43 (4) Land actively devoted to agriculture, having previously qualified for 2 1 exemption under this section in the preceding year, or which would have quali- 2 fied under this section during the current year, shall not lose such qualifi- 3 cation due to the owner's or lessee's absence in the current year by reason of 4 active military service in a designated combat zone, as defined in section 112 5 of theiInternalrRevenuecCode. If an owner fails to timely apply for exemp- 6 tion as required in this section solely by reason of active duty in a desig- 7 nated combat zone, as defined in section 112 of theiInternalrRevenuecCode, 8 and the land would otherwise qualify for exemption under this section, then 9 the board of county commissioners of the county in which the land actively 10 devoted to agriculture is located shall refund property taxes, if previously 11 paid, in an amount equal to the exemption which would otherwise have applied. 12 SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby 13 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its 14 passage and approval.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS 11271 The purpose of this amendment to 63-604 is to insure that farmers or ranchers who participate in the irrigation buy-back program do not lose eligibility to have their lands appraised, assessed and taxed as land actively devoted to agriculture. FISCAL IMPACT There would be no net loss or gain to counties as all lands enrolled in an irrigation buy back program would have been land actively devoted to agriculture previously. Contact Name: Sen. Clint Stennett Phone: 332-1351 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1256