South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006

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H. 4443

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Chalk and Cotty
Document Path: l:\council\bills\agm\18047mm06.doc

Introduced in the House on January 17, 2006
Currently residing in the House Committee on Ways and Means

Summary: Agricultural real property defined

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   1/17/2006  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-38
   1/17/2006  House   Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-38
   1/19/2006  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Cotty

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/17/2006

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 12-43-230, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF "AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY" FOR PURPOSES OF PROPERTY TAX EQUALIZATION AND REASSESSMENT, SO AS TO MORE FULLY DEFINE "AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY", INCLUDING THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE AGRICULTURAL USE OF THE PROPERTY BE A COMMERCIAL USE, AND TO PROVIDE FOR EVIDENCE OF COMMERCIAL USE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 12-43-230(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a)    For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise required by the context, the words phrase 'agricultural real property' shall means any a tract of real property which that is used for commercial purposes to: (i) raise, harvest, or store crops,; (ii) feed, breed, or manage livestock,; or to (iii) produce plants, trees, fowl, or animals useful to man, including. The commercial use of the real property includes, but is not limited to: the preparation of the products raised thereon for man's use and disposed of by marketing or other means. It includes but is not limited to such real property used and its use for agriculture, grazing, horticulture, forestry, dairying, and mariculture. In the event If at least fifty percent of a real property tract shall qualify qualifies as 'agricultural real property', the entire tract shall must be so classified, provided no other unless another business for profit is being operated thereon on it. The term 'agricultural real property' shall include includes real property used to provide free housing for farm laborers, provided such if the housing is located on the tract of land that qualifies as agricultural real property.

The department shall provide by regulation for a more detailed definition of "agricultural real property" consistent Consistent with the general definition set forth in this section, to be more detailed criteria must be used by county assessors in determining entitlement to special assessment under pursuant to this article. Such regulations shall be designed to exclude, with emphasis on excluding from the special assessment that real property which that is not bona fide agricultural real property for which the tax relief is intended. The following factors must be considered by county assessors as determinative of the issue of the tract being agricultural real property used for commercial purposes:

(1)    As to general agricultural use real property, evidence of filing of an Internal Revenue Service Schedule F or other satisfactory proof of a reasonable rate of income for an acre; and

(2)    As to forestry agricultural use real property, evidence that the use of the property meets minimum standards for qualification as commercial timberland, as established by the South Carolina State Forestry Commission.

In cases in which the real property is committed to more than one use, one use being agricultural use and the other use or uses being unrelated to agriculture, the agricultural activity use must be the most significant use of the property for it to be classified as agricultural real property. Recreation, hunting clubs, fishing clubs, vacant and dormant land, and other similar uses do not qualify as agricultural uses."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to property tax years beginning January 1, 2006.

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