House File 109
HOUSE FILE
BY GIPP
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the qualification of property for purposes of
2 the forest reservation property tax exemption and including an
3 applicability date provision.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
5 TLSB 1516HH 80
6 mg/sh/8
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 427C.3, Code 2003, is amended to read
1 2 as follows:
1 3 427C.3 FOREST RESERVATION.
1 4 A forest reservation shall contain not less than two
1 5 hundred growing forest trees on each acre. If the area
1 6 selected is a forest containing the required number of growing
1 7 forest trees, it shall be accepted as a forest reservation
1 8 under this chapter provided application is made or on file on
1 9 or before February 1 of the exemption year and all owners of
1 10 the property being claimed as a forest reservation declare
1 11 residency in Iowa for purposes of income taxation. If any
1 12 buildings are standing on an area selected as a forest
1 13 reservation under this section or a fruit=tree reservation
1 14 under section 427C.7, one acre of that area shall be excluded
1 15 from the tax exemption. However, the exclusion of that acre
1 16 shall not affect the area's meeting the acreage requirement of
1 17 section 427C.2.
1 18 Sec. 2. Section 427C.12, unnumbered paragraph 2, Code
1 19 2003, is amended to read as follows:
1 20 The board of supervisors shall designate the county
1 21 conservation board or the assessor who shall inspect the area
1 22 for which an application is filed for a fruit=tree or forest
1 23 reservation tax exemption before the application is accepted.
1 24 Use of aerial photographs may be substituted for on=site
1 25 inspection when appropriate. The application can only be
1 26 accepted if it meets the criteria established by the natural
1 27 resource commission to be a fruit=tree or forest reservation.
1 28 Once the application has been accepted, the area shall
1 29 continue to receive the tax exemption without the owner having
1 30 to refile during each year in which the area is maintained as
1 31 a fruit=tree or forest reservation without the owner having to
1 32 refile and with respect to use as a forest reservation, all of
1 33 the owners declaring residency in Iowa for income taxation
1 34 purposes during each year. If the property is sold or
1 35 transferred, the seller shall notify the buyer that all, or
2 1 part of, the property is in fruit=tree or forest reservation
2 2 and subject to the recapture tax provisions of this section.
2 3 The tax exemption shall continue to be granted for the
2 4 remainder of the eight=year period for fruit=tree reservation
2 5 and for the following years for forest reservation or until
2 6 the property no longer qualifies as a fruit=tree or forest
2 7 reservation. The area may be inspected each year by the
2 8 county conservation board or the assessor to determine if the
2 9 area is maintained as a fruit=tree or forest reservation.
2 10 PARAGRAPH DIVIDED. If the area is not maintained or is
2 11 used for economic gain other than as a fruit=tree reservation
2 12 during any year of the eight=year exemption period and any
2 13 year of the following five years or as a forest reservation
2 14 during any year for which the exemption is granted and any of
2 15 the five years following those exemption years, the assessor
2 16 shall assess the property for taxation at its fair market
2 17 value as of January 1 of that year and in addition the area
2 18 shall be subject to a recapture tax. However, the area shall
2 19 not be subject to the recapture tax if the owner, including
2 20 one possessing under a contract of sale, and the owner's
2 21 direct antecedents or descendants have owned the area for more
2 22 than ten years. The tax shall be computed by multiplying the
2 23 consolidated levy for each of those years, if any, of the five
2 24 preceding years for which the area received the exemption for
2 25 fruit=tree or forest reservation times the assessed value of
2 26 the area that would have been taxed but for the tax exemption.
2 27 This tax shall be entered against the property on the tax list
2 28 for the current year and shall constitute a lien against the
2 29 property in the same manner as a lien for property taxes. The
2 30 tax when collected shall be apportioned in the manner provided
2 31 for the apportionment of the property taxes for the applicable
2 32 tax year.
2 33 Sec. 3. APPLICABILITY DATE. This Act applies to claims
2 34 filed or on file on or after January 1, 2004.
2 35 EXPLANATION
3 1 This bill requires that before an area of property may
3 2 receive and continue to receive the property tax exemption as
3 3 a forest reservation, all of the owners must declare residency
3 4 in Iowa for purposes of income taxation. This requirement is
3 5 the same as that for claiming the homestead tax credit.
3 6 The bill applies to claims filed or on file on or after
3 7 January 1, 2004.
3 8 LSB 1516HH 80
3 9 mg/sh/8