PRINTER'S NO. 951
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
806
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY CAUSER, SABATINA, MILLARD, HELM, LONGIETTI,
BARRAR, DIAMOND, A. HARRIS, ZIMMERMAN, SAYLOR AND MAHER,
MARCH 17, 2015
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS,
MARCH 17, 2015
AN ACT
Amending the act of December 19, 1974 (P.L.973, No.319),
entitled "An act prescribing the procedure under which an
owner may have land devoted to agricultural use, agricultural
reserve use, or forest reserve use, valued for tax purposes
at the value it has for such uses, and providing for
reassessment and certain interest payments when such land is
applied to other uses and making editorial changes," further
providing for responsibilities of county assessor in
establishing use values.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 4.2 of the act of December 19, 1974
(P.L.973, No.319), known as the Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest
Land Assessment Act of 1974, amended December 8, 2004 (P.L.1785,
No.235), is amended to read:
Section 4.2. Responsibilities of County Assessor in
Establishing Use Values.--(a) For each application for
preferential assessment, the county assessor shall establish a
total use value for land in agricultural use, including
farmstead land, and for land in agricultural reserve by
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considering available evidence of the capability of the land for
its particular use utilizing the USDA-NRCS Agricultural Land
Capability Classification system and other information available
from USDA-ERS, The Pennsylvania State University and the
Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service. Contributory value
of farm buildings shall be used.
(b) For each application for preferential assessment, the
county assessor shall establish a total use value for land in
forest reserve by considering available evidence of capability
of the land for its particular use. Contributory value of farm
buildings shall be used.
(c) A county assessor may establish use values which are
less than the values provided by the department under section
4.1[, but lesser values shall be applied uniformly to all land
in the county eligible for preferential assessment]. If a county
assessor establishes the lower use values, the county assessor
shall uniformly apply the lower set of use values,
notwithstanding if the values are provided by the department or
established by the county, in calculating the preferential
assessment of land in each land use category. The enrollment of
land for preferential assessment under this act may not result
in assessments that are equal to or higher than if the land had
not been so enrolled.
(d) For purposes of this section:
(1) Farmstead land located within an area enrolled as
agricultural use shall be assessed at agricultural use value.
(2) Farmstead land located within an area enrolled as
agricultural reserve or forest reserve shall be assessed at
agricultural use value if either:
(i) a majority of land in the application for preferential
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assessment is enrolled as agricultural use land; or
(ii) in the circumstance that noncontiguous tracts of land
are enrolled under one application, a majority of land on the
tract where the farmstead land is located is enrolled as
agricultural use land.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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