2005-2006 Bill 4443: Agricultural Real Property Defined - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 H. 4443 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Chalk and Cotty 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\agm\18047mm06.doc 11 12 Introduced in the House on January 17, 2006 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Ways and Means 14 15 Summary: Agricultural real property defined 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 1/17/2006 House Introduced and read first time HJ-38 22 1/17/2006 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-38 23 1/19/2006 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Cotty 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 1/17/2006 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 12-43-230, AS AMENDED, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE 13 DEFINITION OF “AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY” FOR 14 PURPOSES OF PROPERTY TAX EQUALIZATION AND 15 REASSESSMENT, SO AS TO MORE FULLY DEFINE 16 “AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY”, INCLUDING THE 17 REQUIREMENT THAT THE AGRICULTURAL USE OF THE 18 PROPERTY BE A COMMERCIAL USE, AND TO PROVIDE 19 FOR EVIDENCE OF COMMERCIAL USE. 20 21 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 22 Carolina: 23 24 SECTION 1. Section 12-43-230(a) of the 1976 Code is amended 25 to read: 26 27 “(a) For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise required 28 by the context, the words phrase ‘agricultural real property’ shall 29 means any a tract of real property which that is used for 30 commercial purposes to: (i) raise, harvest, or store crops,; (ii) 31 feed, breed, or manage livestock,; or to (iii) produce plants, trees, 32 fowl, or animals useful to man, including. The commercial use of 33 the real property includes, but is not limited to: the preparation of 34 the products raised thereon for man’s use and disposed of by 35 marketing or other means. It includes but is not limited to such 36 real property used and its use for agriculture, grazing, horticulture, 37 forestry, dairying, and mariculture. In the event If at least fifty 38 percent of a real property tract shall qualify qualifies as 39 ‘agricultural real property’, the entire tract shall must be so 40 classified, provided no other unless another business for profit is 41 being operated thereon on it. The term ‘agricultural real property’ 42 shall include includes real property used to provide free housing

1 [4443] 1 1 for farm laborers, provided such if the housing is located on the 2 tract of land that qualifies as agricultural real property. 3 The department shall provide by regulation for a more detailed 4 definition of “agricultural real property” consistent Consistent with 5 the general definition set forth in this section, to be more detailed 6 criteria must be used by county assessors in determining 7 entitlement to special assessment under pursuant to this article. 8 Such regulations shall be designed to exclude, with emphasis on 9 excluding from the special assessment that real property which that 10 is not bona fide agricultural real property for which the tax relief is 11 intended. The following factors must be considered by county 12 assessors as determinative of the issue of the tract being 13 agricultural real property used for commercial purposes: 14 (1) As to general agricultural use real property, evidence of 15 filing of an Internal Revenue Service Schedule F or other 16 satisfactory proof of a reasonable rate of income for an acre; and 17 (2) As to forestry agricultural use real property, evidence 18 that the use of the property meets minimum standards for 19 qualification as commercial timberland, as established by the 20 South Carolina State Forestry Commission. 21 In cases in which the real property is committed to more than 22 one use, one use being agricultural use and the other use or uses 23 being unrelated to agriculture, the agricultural activity use must be 24 the most significant use of the property for it to be classified as 25 agricultural real property. Recreation, hunting clubs, fishing clubs, 26 vacant and dormant land, and other similar uses do not qualify as 27 agricultural uses.” 28 29 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor 30 and applies to property tax years beginning January 1, 2006. 31 ----XX---- 32

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