To qualify land for agricultural classification, a return must be filed with the
Property Appraiser between January 1st and March 1st of the
tax year. Only lands which are used for bona fide agricultural purposes shall be
classified agricultural. "Bona fide Agricultural Purposes" means good
faith commercial agricultural use of the land.
Determining if the use of
the land for agricultural purposes is bona fide, the Property Appraiser may take
the following factors into consideration:
- The length of time the land has been so utilized.
- The purchase price paid.
- Size as it relates to specific agricultural use.
- Whether an indicated effort has been made to care sufficiently and adequately
for the land in accordance with accepted commercial agricultural practices,
including, without limitation, fertilizing, liming, tilling, mowing, reforesting
and other accepted practices.
- Whether such land is under lease and if so, the effective length, terms,
and conditions of the lease.
In addition, the Board of County Commissioners may re-classify land to non-agricultural
when there is contiguous urban or metropolitan development and the continued use
of such land for agricultural purposes will act as a deterrent to the timely and
orderly expansion of the community.
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