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H0126...............................................by REVENUE AND TAXATION FOREST LANDS - TAXATION - Amends existing law relating to the taxation of forest lands and forest products; to provide for taxation of forest lands under the productivity option; to authorize and direct the State Tax Commission to take certain action; and to provide for the Committee on Forest Land Taxation Methodologies. 02/07 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing 02/08 Rpt prt - to Rev/Tax 02/15 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 02/16 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 02/17 3rd rdg - PASSED - 69-0-1 AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bastian, Bayer, Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Cannon, Chadderdon, Clark, Collins, Crow, Deal, Denney, Edmunson, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Garrett, Hart, Harwood, Henbest, Henderson, Jaquet, Jones, Kemp, Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Martinez, Mathews, McGeachin, McKague, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Pence, Raybould, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Rusche, Rydalch, Sali, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8), Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie(Telleria), Snodgrass, Stevenson, Trail, Wills, Wood, Mr. Speaker NAYS -- None Absent and excused -- Bradford Floor Sponsor - Denney Title apvd - to Senate 02/18 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Loc Gov 02/23 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 02/24 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 02/25 3rd rdg - PASSED - 34-0-1 AYES -- Andreason, Brandt, Bunderson, Burkett, Burtenshaw, Cameron, Coiner, Compton, Corder, Darrington, Davis, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough, Langhorst, Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Noble, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams NAYS -- None Absent and excused -- Broadsword Floor Sponsor - Stegner Title apvd - to House 02/25 To enrol 02/28 Rpt enrol - Sp signed 03/01 Pres signed - To Governor 03/01 Governor signed Session Law Chapter 24 Effective: 01/01/05
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 126 BY REVENUE AND TAXATION COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO TAXATION OF FOREST LANDS AND FOREST PRODUCTS; AMENDING SECTION 3 63-1701, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE A DEFINITION AND TO DEFINE TERMS; AND 4 AMENDING SECTION 63-1705, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR TAXATION OF FOREST 5 LANDS UNDER THE PRODUCTIVITY OPTION, TO PROVIDE A PROCESS, TO AUTHORIZE 6 AND DIRECT THE STATE TAX COMMISSION TO TAKE CERTAIN ACTION AND TO PROVIDE 7 FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREST LAND TAXATION METHODOLOGIES; DECLARING AN 8 EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING RETROACTIVE APPLICATION. 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 10 SECTION 1. That Section 63-1701, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 11 amended to read as follows: 12 63-1701. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, unless the context 13 requires otherwise: 14 (1) "Average annual net wood production" means the average net usable 15 volume of wood one (1) acre of forest land will grow in one (1) year under 16 average current and actual forest conditions and under current and reasonable 17 management practices for each forest value zone. 18 (2) "Designation period" means any one (1) ten (10) year period in a 19 sequence of ten (10) year periods which begin January 1, 1983. 20 (3) "Forest" means forest land and the timber thereon. 21 (4) "Forest land" means privately owned land being held and used primar- 22 ily for the continuous purpose of growing and harvesting trees of a marketable 23 species. Having met the above criteria, forest land may be further identified 24 by the consideration of any of the following criteria: 25 (a) Forest land is land evidenced by present use and silvicultural treat- 26 ment. 27 (b) Forest land is land which has a dedicated use that is further evi- 28 denced by a forest land management plan that includes eventual harvest of 29 the forest crop. 30 (c) Forest land is land bearing forest growth or land which has not been 31 converted to another use. 32 (d) Forest land is land which has had the trees removed by man through 33 harvest, including clear-cuts or by natural disaster, such as but not lim- 34 ited to fire, and which within five (5) years after harvest or initial 35 assessment will be reforested as specified in the forest practices act 36 (chapter 13, title 38, Idaho Code). 37 (5) "Forest landowner" means the legal entity which holds the property 38 rights under law to the forest land surface. 39 (6) "Forest products" means any forest crop harvested from forest land. 40 (7) "Forest products yield tax" means a tax levied on the value of forest 41 products harvested from a parcel as prescribed in sections 63-1703 and 42 63-1706, Idaho Code. 43 (8) "Forest value" means the market value for assessment purposes as 2 1 determined only on the basis of its ability to produce timber, other forest 2 products, and associated agricultural products throughan income approachthe 3 timber productivity valuation process as prescribed by section 63-1705, Idaho 4 Code. 5 (9) "Stumpage value" means the value of timber, whether standing or 6 downed by other than an intentional act of severance, expressed in terms of 7 dollars per unit of measure. 8 (10) "Timber" means wood growth, of any species and of any size, standing 9 or down on privately owned lands. 10 (11) "Bare land value" means the value of forest land exclusive of the 11 value of timber and other products growing or being thereon. 12 (12) "Stumpage owner" means the legal entity which holds the property 13 rights under law to the timber growing on private lands. 14 (13) "A substantial change of use" means any use other than as forest land 15 as defined in subsection (4) of this section. 16 (14) "Deferred taxes" as used in section 63-1703, Idaho Code, means a tax 17 levied to recapture the difference between taxes that were collected on a par- 18 cel designated under section 63-1706, Idaho Code, and what would have been 19 collected on the parcel, had it been designated under section 63-1702 or 20 63-1705, Idaho Code. 21 (15) "Custodial expense" shall mean those expenses incurred in the mainte- 22 nance of the forest land and limited to the following: 23 (a) Reforestation; 24 (b) Road maintenance; 25 (c) Managing public use; 26 (d) Forest inventory; 27 (e) Forest management planning; 28 (f) Facility operations and maintenance; 29 (g) Environmental analysis and documentation; 30 (h) Appeals and litigation; 31 (i) Land survey; 32 (j) Forest fire suppression; 33 (k) Other management expenses; and 34 (l) Labor associated with items (a) through (k) of this subsection, but 35 shall not include the salaries or expenses, or any portion thereof, of any 36 person or officer not directly engaged in the management of the forest 37 land. 38 (16) "CFTM" means the committee on forest land taxation methodologies as 39 provided in section 63-1705, Idaho Code. 40 SECTION 2. That Section 63-1705, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 41 amended to read as follows: 42 63-1705. TAXATION OFLARGE-SIZEFORESTTRACTSLANDS UNDER THE PRODUCTIV- 43 ITY OPTION. (1) In order to encourage private forest landowners to retain and 44 improve their holdings of forest lands and to promote better forest manage- 45 ment,large-sizeforesttractslands subject to this option shall be 46 appraised, assessed and taxed as real property under the provisions of this 47 section. 48 (2)The inventory of timber and other forest products growing on large-49size forest tracts shall not be included as a part of the total forest asset.50 The forest land value shall be determined byan income approachthe timber 51 productivity valuation process, as provided for in the committee on forest 52 land taxation methodologies, User's Guide to the Timber Productivity Option's 53 Valuation Method - 2005 (Schlosser, January 1, 2005, Moscow, Idaho), referred 3 1 to in this chapter as the "user's guide," on file with the Idaho state tax 2 commission, available on the website of the Idaho state tax commission, and 3 which shall be made available in the office of each county assessor, which 4capitalizes thevaluesoftheaverage annualnet wood production over a rea- 5 sonable rotation period plus other agricultural-related income, if any, less 6 annualized custodial expensesincluding, but not limited to, the establish-7ment, protection, maintenance, improvement and management of the crop over the8rotation periodas defined in section 63-1701, Idaho Code. Pursuant to the 9 provisions of this section, the inventory of forest products shall not be 10 included as part of the valuation of the forest land as provided in section 11 63-602W, Idaho Code. The state tax commission shall promulgate rules relating 12 to the timber productivity valuation process, including custodial expenses, as 13 provided for in the user's guide and the provisions of this chapter. 14 (3) Effective January 1, 20005,through January 1, 2006,the market value 15 for assessment purposes shall be determined annually by the county assessor 16either under rules prescribed by the state tax commission or the market values17contained in subsection (5) of this section, whichever is less. In prescribing18such rules,using the timber productivity valuation process developed by the 19 CFTM, and as further prescribed in rule. Notwithstanding any other provision 20 of law, the state tax commission is authorized to cite the user's guide in its 21 rules and shall: 22 (a) Divide the state into appropriate forest valuation zones, with each 23 zone designated so as to recognize the uniqueness of marketing areas, tim- 24 ber types, growth rates, access, operability, and other pertinent factors 25 of that zone;and26 (b) Establish a uniform system of forest land classification which con- 27 siders the productive capacity of the soil to grow forest products and 28 furnish other associated agricultural uses.; 29 (c) Provide for the annual input to the timber productivity valuation 30 process including the stumpage value, rotation length, mean annual incre- 31 ment, guiding discount rate, annualized custodial expenses, appropriate 32 property tax rates, and real price appreciation rate of stumpage according 33 to the user's guide. The guiding discount rate and the real price appreci- 34 ation rate for timber products shall remain constant at four percent (4%) 35 and one and one-quarter percent (1.25%) respectively, until January 1, 36 2012; 37 (d) Conduct a forest management cost study every five (5) years to deter- 38 mine the annualized custodial expenses to be used in the timber productiv- 39 ity valuation process as provided in the user's guide. The first study 40 shall be conducted in 2005 and evaluated by the CFTM, with the results 41 incorporated into the user's guide timber productivity valuation process 42 on January 1, 2007. The forest management cost study shall be funded by 43 the state tax commission, subject to appropriation by the legislature; and 44 (e) Provide for any additional data as needed. 45 (4) The state tax commission shall by March 1 of each year, furnish all 46 input for the timber productivity valuation process to the county assessor. 47for each value zone the capitalization rate, stumpage value, agricultural-48related income, if any, and expense component to be used in determining the49forest value. From January 1, 1999, until January 1, 2006, the capitalization50rate shall be the interest rate for the farm credit bank district serving51Idaho, as set forth in the most current revenue ruling made pursuant to sec-52tion 2032A(e)(7)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code and 26 CFR 20.2032A-4(e),53plus eighty-five one hundredths percent (.85%), plus a component for the local54tax rate.55 (5) Stumpage values shall be based upon the preceding five (5) year 4 1 rolling average value of timber harvested within the forest value zone from 2 state timber sales and/or the best available data for the same five (5) year 3 period. Average agricultural-related income and the average expense component 4 for each forest value zone shall be determined for the same time period as the 5 period used to determine average stumpage values. 6(5) The following are the alternative market values for assessment pur-7poses for the period January 1, 2000, until January 1, 2006. The rules pre-8scribed by the state tax commission in effect on January 1, 2000, are applica-9ble to these alternative market values.10Alternative Forest Land Values11($/Acre)122000Productivity Class2003Productivity Class13ZoneGoodMediumPoorZoneGoodMediumPoor14I733470207I56436115915II700449198II53934615216III553368172III42628313217IV379252117IV29119490182001Productivity Class2004Productivity Class19ZoneGoodMediumPoorZoneGoodMediumPoor20I676434191I50732514321II646415183II48531113722III511339159III38325511923IV350232108IV26217481242002Productivity Class2005Productivity Class25ZoneGoodMediumPoorZoneGoodMediumPoor26I620398175I45128912727II592380167II43127712228III468311145III34122610629IV32121399IV2331557230 (6) Forest lands upon which, at any time after January 1, 1982, the trees 31 are destroyed by fire, disease, insect infestation or other natural disaster 32 such that the lands affected will not meet minimum stocking requirements under 33 rules adopted pursuant to chapter 13, title 38, Idaho Code, shall be eligible 34 for a reduction in value for the first ten (10) property tax years following 35 the loss. The amount of reduction shall be determined by dividing the average 36 age of the trees destroyed by the rotation age for the specific forestvalue37zone in which the property is locatedproductivity class appropriate for the 38 affected acres. In no instance shall the annual reduction exceed eighty per- 39 cent (80%) of the original forest value per year. In order to obtain a reduc- 40 tion, the landowner shall, on or before January 1, following the destruction, 41 make written application to the assessor indicating the legal description of 42 the lands in question and stating all pertinent facts. The assessor may inves- 43 tigate the facts and may request assistance from the state tax commission in 44 performing such investigations. If the requirements are met, such forest lands 45 shall be assessed and taxed on the reduced basis herein provided. 46 (7) Buildings and other improvements, other than roads, located on forest 47 lands shall be appraised, assessed and taxed as provided by applicable laws 48 and rules. 49 (8) Effective January 1, 2004, there is created within the Idaho state 50 tax commission thecommittee on forest land taxation methodologiesCFTM. The 51 membership of thecommitteeCFTM shall be: 5 1 (a) A nonvoting chairman who shall be the member of the Idaho state tax 2 commission assigned to property tax matters; 3 (b) Four (4) members selected from the membership of the intermountain 4 forest association; 5 (c) One (1) member selected from the membership of the Idaho forest 6 owners' association; 7 (d) Five (5) members selected from the membership of the Idaho associa- 8 tion of counties; and 9 (e) The state superintendent of public instruction or his/her designee, 10 in a nonvoting capacity. 11 Thecommittee shallCFTM may retain a forest economist selected by a majority 12 of its members to advise thecommitteeCFTM. 13 The costs of eachcommitteeCFTM member shall be borne by the respective 14 member. The fees and costs of the forest economist shall be borne as deter- 15 mined by thecommitteeCFTM. 16The committee shall review forest land valuation in Idaho and consider17replacement of the current income methodology found in this section by review-18ing all income and soil expectation methodologies to determine forest land19values.20 Thecommittee shallCFTM may prepare and deliver written reports to the 21 house of representatives revenue and taxation and senate local government and 22 taxation committees of its findings and recommendations for legislationby no23later than January 15, 2005as the need may arise. The CFTM may meet periodi- 24 cally as determined by its chairman or the CFTM. 25During the first regular session of the fifty-eighth Idaho legislature the26house of representatives revenue and taxation and senate local government and27taxation committees, shall review the values and formula used to compute for-28est land values to determine if modification to this section is appropriate29and necessary.30 SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby 31 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its 32 passage and approval, and retroactively to January 1, 2005.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS 14853 Passage of this legislation will encourage private forest land owners in taxation category 6 to retain and improve their holdings of forest lands and to promote better forest management by putting in place a new method of valuing forest land. The new method, as outlined in the 2005 Users Guide, developed by the statutorily designated Committee on Forestland Taxation Methodologies (CFTM), uses the soil expectation/net present value approach to value forest lands in category 6. Passage of the legislation will require the adoption of rules necessary for implementation of the new methodology. FISCAL IMPACT Enactment of this legislation will have no effect upon the States' general fund but will stabilize forest land property tax revenues that support county and school budgets. Contact: Name: Dan Chadwick, Executive Director, IAC Phone: 287-4830 Name: Mark Munkittrick, IFOA, Phone: 762-8630 Name: Jane Gorsuch, Vice President, IFA Phone: 342-3454 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 126