Application for 1-d-1 (Open-Space) Agricultural Use Appraisal Form 50-129
For additional copies, visit: comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax Page 5
Important Information
GENERAL INFORMATION
Agricultural use includes, but is not limited to, the following activities: (1)
cultivating the soil; (2) producing crops for human food, animal feed, or
planting seed or for the production of fibers; (3) floriculture, viticulture and
horticulture; (4) raising or keeping livestock; (5) raising or keeping exotic
animals or fowl for the production of human food or fiber, leather, pelts
or other tangible products having a commercial value; (6) planting cover
crops or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in a governmental
program provided the land is not used for residential purposes or a purpose
inconsistent with agricultural use or leaving the land idle in conjunction with
normal crop or livestock rotation procedures; (7) producing or harvesting
logs and posts used for construction or repair of fences, pens, barns or other
agricultural improvements on adjacent open-space land having the same
owner and devoted to a different agricultural use; (8) wildlife management;
and (9) beekeeping.
Wildlife management is defined as actively using land that at the time the
wildlife-management use began, was appraised as qualified open-space
or timberland under Tax Code, Chapter 23, Subchapter D or E, to propagate
a sustaining breeding, migrating or wintering population of indigenous
wild animals for human use, including food, medicine or recreation, in at
least three of the following ways: (1) habitat control; (2) erosion control; (3)
predator control; (4) providing supplemental supplies of water; (5) providing
supplement supplies of food; (6) providing shelters; and (7) making census
counts to determine population.
Wildlife management is defined as actively using land to protect federally
listed endangered species under a federal permit if the land is included in a
habitat preserve subject to a conservation easement created under Natural
Resources Code Chapter 183 or part of a conservation development under a
federally approved habitat conservation plan restricting the use of the land
to protect federally listed endangered species or actively using land for a
conservation or restoration project under certain federal and state statutes.
These two types of wildlife management uses do not require showing a
history of agricultural use but do require evidence identified in section 6,
questions 7 and 8.
Agricultural land use categories include: (1) irrigated cropland; (2) dry
cropland; (3) improved pastureland; (4) native pastureland; (5) orchard; (6)
wasteland; (7) timber production; (8) wildlife management; and (9) other
categories of land that are typical in the area.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
The completed application must be filed with the chief appraiser before May
1 of the year for which agricultural appraisal is requested. If the application
is approved, a new application is not required in later years unless the land
ownership changes, eligibility ends or the chief appraiser requests a new
application.
A late application may be filed up to midnight the day before the appraisal
review board approves appraisal records for the year, which usually occurs in
July. If a late application is approved, a penalty will be applied in an amount
equal to 10 percent of the difference between the amount of tax imposed on
the property and the amount that would be imposed if the property were
taxed at market value.
DUTY TO NOTIFY AND PENALTIES:
The property owner must notify the chief appraiser no later than the April 30
following the change in use or eligibility. A change of land use for all or part
of the property will trigger substantial additional tax plus interest (a rollback
tax). Payment of a penalty may also be required for failure to notify the chief
appraiser of a change in agricultural use or qualification. Notice must be
delivered to the chief appraiser if:
• the property stops being used for agriculture (e.g., voluntarily
stopped farming);
• category of land use changes (e.g., from dry cropland to irrigated
cropland;
• level of use changes (e.g., a substantial increase or decrease the
number of cattle raised);
• nature of use changes (e.g., a switch from growing corn to growing
ornamental plants);
• property owner enters, leaves or changes governmental programs
(e.g., 100 acres placed in a conservation reserve program); or
• the land is used for something other than agriculture (e.g., to build a
shopping center on most of the land).
DUTY TO NOTIFY FOR CERTAIN LANDOWNERS:
If land ceases to be devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree
of intensity generally accepted in the area, open-space appraisal may be
retained if the chief appraiser is notified as required and the property owner:
• is a member of the armed services who is deployed or stationed
outside of Texas who intends to return the land to the manner and
to the degree of intensity that is generally accepted in the area not
later than the 180th day after being deployed or stationed outside
this state ceases;
• owns land that has previously been under open-space appraisal
primarily based on its citrus production; the land is located in a pest
management zone; and an agreement was executed to destroy,
remove or treat all the citrus trees located on the land that are or
could become infested with pests with one of the following: Texas
Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation, Inc., the Texas
Commissioner of Agriculture or the U.S. Department of Agriculture;
or
• owns land that has previously been under open-space appraisal
primarily on the basis of livestock; the land is located in a temporary
quarantine area established during the tax year by the Texas Animal
Health Commission for the purpose of regulating the handling of
livestock and eradicating ticks or exposure to ticks under Chapter
167, Agriculture Code.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If the initial application form does not contain all essential information, the
chief appraiser may request additional information that is necessary to deter-
mine whether the land qualifies for 1-d-1 appraisal. The chief appraiser may
disapprove the application and request additional information. The chief
appraiser may deny the application and that determination may be protested
to the county appraisal review board in a timely manner. If the chief appraiser
requests additional information from an applicant, the information must be
furnished within 30 days after the date of the request, or the application is
denied. For good cause shown, the chief appraiser may extend the deadline
for furnishing the information by written order for a single 15 day period.
