§ 6-1.1-4-13 — Agricultural land; assessment; soil productivity factors

Indiana § 6-1.1-4-13

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 1.1: PROPERTY TAXES
• Ch. 4: Procedures for Real Property Assessment

Text

(a) In assessing or reassessing land, the land
shall be assessed as agricultural land only when it is devoted to
agricultural use.
(b) For purposes of this section, and in addition to any other land
considered devoted to agricultural use, any:
(1) land enrolled in:
(A) a land conservation or reserve program administered by the
United States Department of Agriculture;
(B) a land conservation program administered by the United
States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency; or
(C) a conservation reserve program or agricultural easement
program administered by the United States Department of
Agriculture's National Resources Conservation Service;
(2) land enrolled in the department of natural resources' classified
forest and wildlands program (or any similar or successor
program);
(3) land classified in the category of other agriculture use, as
provided in the department of local government finance's real
property assessment guidelines; or
(4) land devoted to the harvesting of hardwood timber;
is considered to be devoted to agricultural use. Agricultural use for
purposes of this section includes but is not limited to the uses included
in the definition of "agricultural use" in IC 36-7-4-616(b), such as the
production of livestock or livestock products, commercial aquaculture,
equine or equine products, land designated as a conservation reserve
plan, pastureland, poultry or poultry products, horticultural or nursery
stock, fruit, vegetables, forage, grains, timber, trees, bees and apiary
products, tobacco, other agricultural crops, general farming operation
purposes, native timber lands, or land that lays fallow. Agricultural use
may not be determined by the size of a parcel or size of a part of the
parcel. This subsection does not affect the assessment of any real
property assessed under IC 6-1.1-6 (assessment of certain forest lands),
IC 6-1.1-6.2 (assessment of certain windbreaks), or IC 6-1.1-6.7
(assessment of filter strips).
(c) The department of local government finance shall give written
notice to each county assessor of:
(1) the availability of the United States Department of
Agriculture's soil survey data; and
(2) the appropriate soil productivity factor for each type or
classification of soil shown on the United States Department of
Agriculture's soil survey map.
All assessing officials and the property tax assessment board of appeals
shall use the data in determining the true tax value of agricultural land.
However, notwithstanding the availability of new soil productivity
factors and the department of local government finance's notice of the
appropriate soil productivity factor for each type or classification of
soil shown on the United States Department of Agriculture's soil survey
map for the March 1, 2012, assessment date, the soil productivity
factors used for the March 1, 2011, assessment date shall be used for
the January 1, 2016, assessment date and each assessment date
thereafter.
(d) The department of local government finance shall by rule
provide for the method for determining the true tax value of each parcel
of agricultural land.
(e) This section does not apply to land purchased for industrial or
commercial uses.
[Pre-1975 Property Tax Recodification Citations: 6-1-26-3;
6-1-26-4(a); 6-1-33-6 part.]
Formerly: Acts 1975, P.L.47, SEC.1. As amended by
P.L.63-1983, SEC.1; P.L.24-1986, SEC.6; P.L.75-1987, SEC.1;
P.L.6-1997, SEC.14; P.L.90-2002, SEC.36; P.L.178-2002, SEC.5;
P.L.112-2012, SEC.9; P.L.1-2013, SEC.1; P.L.85-2014, SEC.1;
P.L.249-2015, SEC.6; P.L.180-2016, SEC.3.