PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 951
PRINTER'S NO. 1429
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, MAHER, GABLER,
GIBBONS AND MOUL, MARCH 17, 2015
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MAY 5, 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 DEPARTMENT AND 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.
SECTION 1. SECTION 4.1(C) OF THE ACT OF DECEMBER 19, 1974
(P.L.973, NO.319), KNOWN AS THE PENNSYLVANIA FARMLAND AND FOREST
LAND ASSESSMENT ACT OF 1974, ADDED DECEMBER 21, 1998 (P.L.1225,
NO.156), IS AMENDED TO READ:
SECTION 4.1. RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPARTMENT.--* * *
(C) BY JUNE 30, 1999, AND BY MAY 1 OF EACH YEAR THEREAFTER
AND IN CONSULTATION WITH THE BUREAU OF FORESTRY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES, THE DEPARTMENT
SHALL ESTABLISH AND PROVIDE TO ALL COUNTY ASSESSORS COUNTY-
SPECIFIC USE VALUES FOR LAND IN FOREST RESERVE.
SECTION 2. SECTION 4.2 OF THE ACT IS AMENDED BY ADDING
SUBSECTIONS TO READ:
SECTION 4.2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF COUNTY ASSESSOR IN
ESTABLISHING USE VALUES.--* * *
(B.1) (1) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (2) AND SUBJECT
TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBSECTIONS (C), (C.1), (C.2), (C.3) AND
(C.4), FOR ANY COUNTY IN WHICH PREFERENTIAL ASSESSMENT OF LAND
ENROLLED IN FOREST RESERVE IS BASED ON COUNTY-SPECIFIC VALUES
ESTABLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER SECTION (4.1)(C), A COUNTY
ASSESSOR MAY APPLY A USE VALUE FOR LAND ENROLLED IN FOREST
RESERVE THAT EQUALS THE AVERAGE OF ALL SUBCATEGORIES OF FOREST
RESERVE USE VALUES ESTABLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT.
(2) SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBSECTIONS (C), (C.1),
(C.2), (C.3) AND (C.4), IF A LANDOWNER PROVIDES A STATEMENT
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DEFINING THE PREDOMINATE FOREST CLASSIFICATION TYPE ON THE
ENROLLED LAND, THE COUNTY ASSESSOR SHALL APPLY TO THAT LAND THE
VALUE ESTABLISHED FOR THAT FOREST TYPE.
* * *
(C.1) A COUNTY ASSESSOR SHALL APPLY THE USE VALUES IN EFFECT
ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBSECTION UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A
COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY VALUES IS IMPLEMENTED.
(C.2) SUBJECT TO THE LIMITATION IN SUBSECTION (C.4), A
COUNTY ASSESSOR SHALL RECALCULATE AND APPLY FOR THE YEAR IN
WHICH A COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY VALUES IS BEING
IMPLEMENTED USE VALUES FOR LAND IN EACH LAND USE CATEGORY USING
THE CRITERIA ESTABLISHED UNDER SUBSECTIONS (A), (B) AND (C).
THE USE VALUES DETERMINED BY THE COUNTY ASSESSOR UNDER THIS
SUBSECTION IN THE YEAR THAT A COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT OF REAL
PROPERTY VALUES IS IMPLEMENTED SHALL BE APPLIED AS FOLLOWS:
(1) TO ALL PROPERTIES ENROLLED IN PREFERENTIAL ASSESSMENT IN
THE YEAR OF THE COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT;
(2) TO EACH APPLICATION FOR PREFERENTIAL ASSESSMENT FILED
WITH THE COUNTY ASSESSOR IN THE YEAR OF THE COUNTYWIDE
REASSESSMENT; OR
(3) TO ALL LAND ENROLLED IN PREFERENTIAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE
YEARS FOLLOWING A COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT UNTIL A SUBSEQUENT
COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY VALUES IS IMPLEMENTED.
(C.3) THE USE VALUE APPLIED TO LAND UNDER SUBSECTION (C.1)
OR (C.2) MAY NOT BE CHANGED FOR ANY PROPERTY UNTIL SUCH TIME AS
A SUBSEQUENT COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY VALUES IS
IMPLEMENTED, UNLESS THERE IS A RECLASSIFICATION OF LAND OR
PORTION OF LAND TO A DIFFERENT LAND USE CATEGORY AS OTHERWISE
PROVIDED FOR UNDER THIS ACT, IN WHICH CASE THE USE VALUE TO BE
APPLIED TO THAT LAND OR PORTION OF LAND SHALL BE THE USE VALUE
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APPLICABLE TO THE PARTICULAR LAND USE CATEGORY FOR WHICH THE
LAND WAS RECLASSIFIED.
(C.4) (1) A COUNTY ASSESSOR MAY NOT, UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES, ESTABLISH OR APPLY A USE VALUE TO ANY LAND
ENROLLED AS AGRICULTURAL USE, AGRICULTURAL RESERVE OR FOREST
RESERVE:
(I) THAT IS GREATER THAN THE ASSESSMENT VALUE THAT WOULD
APPLY TO THE LAND IF THE LAND WERE NOT ENROLLED IN PREFERENTIAL
ASSESSMENT; OR
(II) THAT IS GREATER THAN THE COUNTY-SPECIFIC USE VALUE
APPLICABLE TO THAT LAND ESTABLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER
SECTION (4.1).
(2) A COUNTY ASSESSOR SHALL APPLY THE LOWER OF THE VALUES
UNDER CLAUSE (I) OR (II), OR A VALUE ESTABLISHED UNDER
SUBSECTION (C).
* * *
SECTION 3. THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT JANUARY 1, 2016, OR
IMMEDIATELY, WHICHEVER IS LATER.
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