Bill Text: GA HB916 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Bona fide conservation use property; covenants; change certain qualifications and restrictions

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 5-1)

Status: (Passed) 2012-05-01 - Effective Date [HB916 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-HB916-Introduced.html

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12 HB 916/AP

House Bill 916 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)

By: Representatives Knight of the 126th, England of the 108th, McCall of the 30th, Roberts of the 154th, and Buckner of the 130th

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Code Section 48-5-7.4 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to bona fide conservation use property, so as to change certain qualifications and restrictions regarding covenants; to provide for exceptions; to provide for a definition; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Code Section 48-5-7.4 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to bona fide conservation use property, is amended by revising subsections (a), (b), and (i) as follows:

"(a) For purposes of this article, the term 'bona fide conservation use property' means property described in and meeting the requirements of paragraph (1) or (2) and paragraph (3) of this subsection, as follows:

(1) Not more than 2,000 acres of tangible real property of a single person, the primary purpose of which is any good faith production, including but not limited to subsistence farming or commercial production, from or on the land of agricultural products or timber, subject to the following qualifications:

(A) Such property includes the value of tangible property permanently affixed to the real property which is directly connected to such owner's production of agricultural products or timber and which is devoted to the storage and processing of such agricultural products or timber from or on such real property;

(A.1) In the application of the limitation contained in the introductory language of this paragraph, the following rules shall apply to determine beneficial interests in bona fide conservation use property held in a family owned farm entity as described in division (1)(C)(iv) of this subsection:

(i) A person who owns an interest in a family owned farm entity as described in division (1)(C)(iv) of this subsection shall be considered to own only the percent of the bona fide conservation use property held by such family owned farm entity that is equal to the percent interest owned by such person in such family owned farm entity; and

(ii) A person who owns an interest in a family owned farm entity as described in division (1)(C)(iv) of this subsection may elect to allocate the lesser of any unused portion of such person's 2,000 acre limitation or the product of such person's percent interest in the family owned farm entity times the total number of acres owned by the family owned farm entity subject to such bona fide conservation use assessment, with the result that the family owned farm entity may receive bona fide conservation use assessment on more than 2,000 acres;

(B) Such property excludes the entire value of any residence located on the and its underlying property; as used in this subparagraph, the term 'underlying property' means the minimum lot size required for residential construction by local zoning ordinances or two acres, whichever is less. This provision for excluding the underlying property of a residence from eligibility in the conservation use covenant shall only apply to property that is first made subject to a covenant or is subject to the renewal of a previous covenant on or after the effective date of this subparagraph;

(C) Except as otherwise provided in division (vii) of this subparagraph, such property must be owned by:

(i) One or more natural or naturalized citizens;

(ii) An estate of which the devisees or heirs are one or more natural or naturalized citizens;

(iii) A trust of which the beneficiaries are one or more natural or naturalized citizens;

(iv) A family owned farm entity, such as a family corporation, a family partnership, a family general partnership, a family limited partnership, a family limited corporation, or a family limited liability company, all of the interest of which is owned by one or more natural or naturalized citizens related to each other by blood or marriage within the fourth degree of civil reckoning, except that, solely with respect to a family limited partnership, a corporation, limited partnership, limited corporation, or limited liability company may serve as a general partner of the family limited partnership and hold no more than a 5 percent interest in such family limited partnership, an estate of which the devisees or heirs are one or more natural or naturalized citizens, or a trust of which the beneficiaries are one or more natural or naturalized citizens and which family owned farm entity derived 80 percent or more of its gross income from bona fide conservation uses, including earnings on investments directly related to past or future bona fide conservation uses, within this state within the year immediately preceding the year in which eligibility is sought; provided, however, that in the case of a newly formed family farm entity, an estimate of the income of such entity may be used to determine its eligibility;

(v) A bona fide nonprofit conservation organization designated under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;

(vi) A bona fide club organized for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofitable purposes pursuant to Section 501(c)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code; or

(vii) In the case of constructed storm-water wetlands, any person may own such property;

(D) Factors which may be considered in determining if such property is qualified may include, but not be limited to:

(i) The nature of the terrain;

(ii) The density of the marketable product on the land;

(iii) The past usage of the land;

(iv) The economic merchantability of the agricultural product; and

(v) The utilization or nonutilization of recognized care, cultivation, harvesting, and like practices applicable to the product involved and any implemented plans thereof; and

(E) Such property shall, if otherwise qualified, include, but not be limited to, property used for:

(i) Raising, harvesting, or storing crops;

(ii) Feeding, breeding, or managing livestock or poultry;

(iii) Producing plants, trees, fowl, or animals, including without limitation the production of fish or wildlife by maintaining not less than ten acres of wildlife habitat either in its natural state or under management, which shall be deemed a type of agriculture; provided, however, that no form of commercial fishing or fish production shall be considered a type of agriculture; or

(iv) Production of aquaculture, horticulture, floriculture, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, and apiarian products; or

(2) Not more than 2,000 acres of tangible real property, excluding the value of any improvements thereon, of a single owner of the types of environmentally sensitive property specified in this paragraph and certified as such by the Department of Natural Resources, if the primary use of such property is its maintenance in its natural condition or controlling or abating pollution of surface or ground waters of this state by storm-water runoff or otherwise enhancing the water quality of surface or ground waters of this state and if such owner meets the qualifications of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of this subsection:

(A) Environmentally sensitive areas, including any otherwise qualified land area 1,000 feet or more above the lowest elevation of the county in which such area is located that has a percentage slope, which is the difference in elevation between two points 500 feet apart on the earth divided by the horizontal distance between those two points, of 25 percent or greater and shall include the crests, summits, and ridge tops which lie at elevations higher than any such area;

(B) Wetland areas that are determined by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to be wetlands under their jurisdiction pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, as amended, or wetland areas that are depicted or delineated on maps compiled by the Department of Natural Resources or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to its National Wetlands Inventory Program;

(C) Significant ground-water recharge areas as identified on maps or data compiled by the Department of Natural Resources;

(D) Undeveloped barrier islands or portions thereof as provided for in the federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act, as amended;

(E) Habitats as certified by the Department of Natural Resources as containing species that have been listed as either endangered or threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended;

(F) River or stream corridors or buffers which shall be defined as those undeveloped lands which are:

(i) Adjacent to rivers and perennial streams that are within the 100 year flood plain as depicted on official maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; or

(ii) Within buffer zones adjacent to rivers or perennial streams, which buffer zones are established by law or local ordinance and within which land-disturbing activity is prohibited; or

(G)(i) Constructed storm-water wetlands of the free-water surface type certified by the Department of Natural Resources under subsection (k) of Code Section 12-2-4 and approved for such use by the local governing authority.

(ii) No property shall maintain its eligibility for current use assessment as a bona fide conservation use property as defined in this subparagraph unless the owner of such property files an annual inspection report from a licensed professional engineer certifying that as of the date of such report the property is being maintained in a proper state of repair so as to accomplish the objectives for which it was designed. Such inspection report and certification shall be filed with the county board of tax assessors on or before the last day for filing ad valorem tax returns in the county for each tax year for which such assessment is sought; and.

(3) The governing authority of a county in which the property that otherwise meets the requirements for current use assessment is located may establish a minimum number of acres as a condition for qualifying for the current use assessment. Such minimum shall be up to 25 acres and shall apply exclusively to qualified property that is first made subject to a covenant required by subsection (d) of this Code section or is subject to the renewal of a previous covenant required by subsection (d) of this Code section on or after January 1, 2012."

"(b) Except in the case of the underlying portion of a tract of real property on which is actually located a constructed storm-water wetlands, the following additional rules shall apply to the qualification of conservation use property for current use assessment:

(1) When one-half or more of the area of a single tract of real property is used for a qualifying purpose, then such tract shall be considered as used for such qualifying purpose unless some other type of business is being operated on the unused portion; provided, however, that such unused portion must be minimally managed so that it does not contribute significantly to erosion or other environmental or conservation problems. The lease of hunting rights or the use of the property for hunting purposes shall not constitute another type of business. The charging of admission for use of the property for fishing purposes shall not constitute another type of business;

(2) The owner of a tract, lot, or parcel of land totaling less than ten 10 acres shall be required by the tax assessor to submit additional relevant records regarding proof of bona fide conservation use for qualified property that on or after the effective date of this paragraph is either first made subject to a covenant or is subject to a renewal of a previous covenant. If the owner of the subject property provides proof that such owner has filed with the Internal Revenue Service a Schedule E, reporting farm related income or loss, or a Schedule F, with Form 1040, or, if applicable, a Form 4835, pertaining to such property, the provisions of this paragraph, requiring additional relevant records regarding proof of bona fide conservation use, shall not apply to such property. Prior to a denial of eligibility under this paragraph, the tax assessor shall conduct and provide proof of a visual on-site inspection of the property; Reasonable notice shall be provided to the property owner before being allowed a visual, on-site inspection of the property by the tax assessor.

(3) No property shall qualify as bona fide conservation use property if such current use assessment would result in any person who has a beneficial interest in such property, including any interest in the nature of stock ownership, receiving in any tax year any benefit of current use assessment as to more than 2,000 acres. If any taxpayer has any beneficial interest in more than 2,000 acres of tangible real property which is devoted to bona fide conservation uses, such taxpayer shall apply for current use assessment only as to 2,000 acres of such land;

(4) No property shall qualify as bona fide conservation use property if it is leased to a person or entity which would not be entitled to conservation use assessment;

(5) No property shall qualify as bona fide conservation use property if such property is at the time of application for current use assessment subject to a restrictive covenant which prohibits the use of the property for the specific purpose described in subparagraph (a)(1)(E) of this Code section for which bona fide conservation use qualification is sought; and

(6) No otherwise qualified property shall be denied current use assessment on the grounds that no soil map is available for the county in which such property is located; provided, however, that if no soil map is available for the county in which such property is located, the owner making an application for current use assessment shall provide the board of tax assessors with a certified soil survey of the subject property unless another method for determining the soil type of the subject property is authorized in writing by such board."

"(i)(1) If ownership of all or a part of the property is acquired during a covenant period by a person or entity qualified to enter into an original covenant, then the original covenant may be continued by such acquiring party for the remainder of the term, in which event no breach of the covenant shall be deemed to have occurred.

(2)(A) As used in this paragraph, the term 'contiguous' means real property within a county that abuts, joins, or touches and has the same undivided common ownership. If an applicant's tract is divided by a county boundary, public roadway, public easement, public right of way, natural boundary, land lot line, or railroad track, then the applicant has, at the time of the initial application, a one-time election to declare the tract as contiguous irrespective of a county boundary, public roadway, public easement, public right of way, natural boundary, land lot line, or railroad track.

(B) If a qualified owner has entered into an original bona fide conservation use covenant and subsequently acquires additional qualified property contiguous to the property in the original covenant, the qualified owner may elect to enter the subsequently acquired qualified property into the original covenant for the remainder of the ten-year period of the original covenant; provided, however, that such subsequently acquired qualified property shall be less than 50 acres."

(1)(A) The governing authority of a county shall not publish or promulgate any information which is inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter.

SECTION 2.

This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 3.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.