Orange County Appraisal District

Productivity Guidelines

1. To qualify for an agricultural use, special valuation, a property must be currently devoted principally to agricultural use to the degree of intensity that is typical to Orange County.

A. Agricultural use is defined in the Texas Property Tax Code as including the following activities:

1. Cultivating the soil;

2. Producing crops for human food, animal feed, or planting seed for the production of fibers;

3. Floriculture;

4. Viticulture;

5. Horticulture;

6. Raising or keeping livestock (livestock includes meat or dairy cattle, horses, goats, swine, poultry, and sheep. Land used primarily to train, show, or race horses, to ride horses for recreation, or to keep or use horses in some other manner that is not strictly incidental to breeding or raising horses does not qualify.)

7. Raising exotic game for commercial use (hunting does not qualify);

8. Participation in a government program and normal crop rotation.

B. The property must be devoted principally (the most important or primary use) to an agricultural use as mentioned above.

C. The property must be currently devoted to the agricultural use. The land must qualify on January 1 of the year being applied for.

D. The property must be devoted to an agricultural use to the degree of intensity typical for Orange County.

1. The degree of intensity test is used to help measure whether the land meets this requirement or if it is a “token” agricultural use for the purpose of obtaining tax relief.

2. The degree of intensity is determined by the Chief Appraiser in each appraisal district.

3. This test measures what the owner is putting into his agricultural enterprise in time, labor, equipment, management, and capitol as compared to what is typical in the county.

4. According to the Tax Code, agricultural property should be managed with the intent to produce income.

5. For a tract of land to qualify for productivity valuation, it must be substantial. Substantial is defined as a tract of land adequate in size to support a typically prudent operation. The Agricultural Advisory Board and the Chief Appraiser have established minimum usage guidelines typical for all major Agricultural categories.

6. Variances in degree of intensity will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

E. The property must have been used principally for an agricultural use or timber production for any five of the preceding seven years.

F. A property owner must file a valid application form. To be valid, the application must be on a form approved by the State Comptroller and provided by the Appraisal District.

G. The deadline to file an application is before May 1, meaning the form must be postmarked or filed no later than midnight April 30. For good cause and only on the property owner’s request, the Chief Appraiser may extend the filing deadline for up to 60 days. The request must be in writing and made before May 1.

H. Typical evidence of agricultural use are as follows:

1. Lease agreements;

2. Expenditure receipts (or cancelled checks);

3. Product or livestock sales receipts;

4. Photographs;

5. Membership in farm, ranch, or timber programs or organizations/associations;

6. Documentation of timber sale activity;

7. Documentation of timber management plan.

I. Wildlife management is considered agricultural use under the Tax Code. The owner of land used for wildlife management must perform three(3) of the following seven(7) activities:

1.Habitat Control (habitat management) – means activity using land to create or promote environment that is beneficial to wildlife.

2. Erosion Control – means practices that attempt to reduce or control soil erosion.

3. Predator Control – means practices intended to manage the population of predators to benefit the target wildlife population.

4. Supplement Water Supplies – means the owner actively provides water in addition to the natural resources.

5. Shelter – means the owner actively creates or maintains vegetation or artificial structures that provide shelter from weather, escape cover from enemies or nesting and breeding sites.

6. Census Counts – means periodic surveys to determine the number and composition of target wildlife population and effectiveness of the management program.

7. Supplement Food Supplies – means the owner supplies supplemental food in addition to the level naturally produced on the land.

J. Change of use, change in the class of use and change of ownership require a new application. Failure to notify the appraisal district of a change in agricultural use subjects the property to a penalty.

K. Upon determination that the land has been diverted to a non-agricultural/timber use, the Chief Appraiser must send the owner written notice of the determination and a rollback is triggered.

2. These guidelines are to be used as reasons for further investigation as to whether a property qualifies for the special valuation. Variations from these guidelines will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.