Bill Text: IA HF169 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act providing a property tax exemption for land used to produce food within the limits of a city.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-28 - Fiscal note. [HF169 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF169-Introduced.html

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House File 169 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  ISENHART and KAUFMANN

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act providing a property tax exemption for land used to
  2    produce food within the limits of a city.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1339YH (4) 87
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 427.1, Code 2017, is amended by adding
  1  2 the following new subsection:
  1  3    NEW SUBSECTION.  25.  Urban farm.  Property certified as an
  1  4 urban farm by a city in compliance with this subsection.
  1  5    a.  The city council must adopt an ordinance providing for
  1  6 terms and conditions of the exemption.
  1  7    b.  The property must be owned by a nonprofit entity as
  1  8 defined in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or
  1  9 must be leased by another person to such a nonprofit entity.
  1 10 The lease must be for at least five consecutive assessment
  1 11 years.  The lease may be made on a cash rent basis or crop=share
  1 12 basis.  A lease may be renewed or extended.
  1 13    c.  The property must be located within the corporate limits
  1 14 of the city.
  1 15    d.  The nonprofit entity must use the property as an urban
  1 16 farm to produce food suitable for human consumption. The food
  1 17 may be further processed or packaged prior to distribution as
  1 18 provided in this subsection.
  1 19    e.  The food must be distributed to a food bank or emergency
  1 20 feeding organization recognized by the department of revenue.
  1 21 The food bank or emergency feeding organization must distribute
  1 22 the food within the corporate limits of the city.
  1 23    f.  The city must certify that the property is an urban
  1 24 farm.  The city must send a copy of the certification to
  1 25 the appropriate assessor not later than February 1 of the
  1 26 assessment year for which the exemption is requested.  The
  1 27 city may subsequently withdraw certification of the property
  1 28 if the lease is terminated or the property is not used as an
  1 29 urban farm. The assessor shall be given written notice of the
  1 30 decertification.
  1 31    g.  The exemption granted under this subsection shall
  1 32 apply until the property is decertified or the lease expires,
  1 33 whichever occurs earlier.
  1 34    h.  An ordinance adopted under this subsection may provide
  1 35 that upon decertification all taxes that would have been levied
  2  1 for the period of time the exemption was in effect under this
  2  2 subsection  shall be immediately entered against the property on
  2  3 the tax list for the current year and shall constitute a lien
  2  4 against the property in the same manner as a lien for property
  2  5 taxes. The tax when collected shall be apportioned in the same
  2  6 manner provided for the apportionment of property taxes for the
  2  7 applicable tax year.
  2  8                           EXPLANATION
  2  9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 10 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 11    This bill provides a property tax exemption for property
  2 12 located within a city and certified as an urban farm by a
  2 13 city council pursuant to an ordinance. The property must be
  2 14 owned by or leased to a nonprofit entity which must use the
  2 15 property to produce food for distribution to a food bank or
  2 16 emergency feeding organization recognized by the department
  2 17 of revenue. A lease must be for at least five years and the
  2 18 exemption applies until the lease expires or until the property
  2 19 is decertified. A lease may be renewed or extended and, if
  2 20 the property is still eligible, the exemption continues. The
  2 21 ordinance may provide that upon decertification, the exemption
  2 22 is disallowed and the amount of the property taxes that had
  2 23 been exempted shall be entered against the property on the tax
  2 24 list for the current year.
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