Senate Study Bill 3120 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BOLKCOM) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the definition of agricultural property for 1 property taxation purposes. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5542XC (2) 83 md/sc

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 441.21, Code Supplement 2009, is amended 1 by adding the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 13. a. Beginning with valuations 3 established on or after January 1, 2011, as used in this 4 section, “agricultural property” shall not include any parcel 5 of real estate upon which a building that is primarily used or 6 intended for human habitation is located unless such parcel is 7 in good faith used primarily for agricultural purposes and one 8 of the following conditions are met: 9 (1) The parcel and the improvements and structures located 10 on such parcel, other than the building used or intended for 11 human habitation, are used for the production of not less than 12 ten acres of row crops. 13 (2) The parcel of real estate and the improvements and 14 structures located on such parcel, other than the building used 15 or intended for human habitation, produce a five-year average 16 of not less than two thousand dollars of gross income per year 17 from farming or ranching. 18 b. Contiguous parcels that are owned by the same taxpayer 19 may be combined for determining the primary use, number of 20 acres used for the production of row crops, or gross income 21 from farming or ranching under paragraph “a” . 22 c. A building primarily used or intended for human 23 habitation that is located on a parcel classified as 24 agricultural property pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 25 “a” shall be valued as rural residential property pursuant to 26 subsection 6. 27 EXPLANATION 28 This bill amends the definition of agricultural property for 29 property taxation purposes. 30 The bill provides that beginning with real property 31 valuations established on or after January 1, 2011, 32 agricultural property shall not include any parcel of real 33 estate upon which a building that is primarily used or intended 34 for human habitation is located unless that parcel is in good 35 -1- LSB 5542XC (2) 83 md/sc 1/ 2

S.F. _____ faith used primarily for agricultural purposes and the parcel 1 and the improvements and structures located on such parcel, 2 other than the building used or intended for human habitation, 3 are used for the production of not less than 10 acres of row 4 crops or produce a five-year average of not less than $2,000 5 per year of gross income from farming or ranching. 6 The bill allows contiguous parcels that are owned by the same 7 taxpayer to be combined for determining the primary use, number 8 of acres used for the production of row crops, or gross income 9 from farming or ranching. 10 The bill also provides that any building located on a parcel 11 that is classified as agricultural property pursuant to the 12 requirements of the bill and that is primarily used or intended 13 for human habitation shall be classified as residential 14 property for property taxation purposes. 15 -2- LSB 5542XC (2) 83 md/sc 2/ 2