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H. B. No. 289 As IntroducedAs Introduced
127th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2007-2008 |
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A BILL
To amend sections 931.02, 931.03, 931.04, 931.99, and
5709.28 of the Revised Code to make changes to the
law governing agricultural security areas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 931.02, 931.03, 931.04, 931.99, and
5709.28 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 931.02. (A) Land that is located in the unincorporated
area of a township or county may be enrolled in an agricultural
security area through the submittal of an
application to
the board
of township trustees of each township and
to the board of county
commissioners
of each county in which the
land is
located
requesting the establishment of such an area. Land that is located
in a municipal corporation and land that is located in territory
that is proposed to be annexed to a municipal corporation by a
pending proceeding before the board of county commissioners or in
any court of competent jurisdiction shall not be included in an
agricultural security area.
If all of the land sought to be enrolled in the agricultural
security area is owned by the same person, that person shall
submit the application to the required boards. If the land sought
to be enrolled consists of parcels owned by different persons who
have aggregated their parcels, either each owner may submit a
separate application to the required boards or all of the owners
collectively may submit one application for the entire
agricultural security area to the required boards.
An application shall be
on the form that the director of
agriculture
prescribes. The director shall provide copies of the
application
form to county auditors.
An application shall be signed by each applicant who is
submitting it and shall contain all of the following:
(1) The first, middle, and last name of the applicant or
applicants;
(2) Information concerning any property interest in the land
sought to be enrolled in an agricultural security area that is
held by a person other than the applicant or applicants,
including, without
limitation, mineral rights or easements in the
land that are held
by a person other than the applicant or
applicants and any other interest in the land that may not be
conducive to agriculture and that is held by another person;
(3) A statement by each applicant who is submitting the
application that the applicant will
not initiate, approve, or
finance any new development for
nonagricultural purposes on the
land that is proposed to be
enrolled in an agricultural security
area during the ten-year
period of the enrollment, except as is
otherwise authorized under
division (A) of section 931.04 of the
Revised Code. For purposes
of division (A)(3) of this section,
"new development" includes,
without limitation, an applicant's
transfer to another person of
the ownership of a property interest
in the land that occurs
during the period beginning on the date
that the application is
submitted and ending on the date that the
ten-year period of
enrollment is scheduled to expire, except as
otherwise provided in division (D) of this section. "New
development" does not
include taking any actions that are
authorized under property
rights in the land, such as mineral
rights or easements, that were
transferred to a person other than
an applicant prior to the date
that the application is submitted.
In addition, "new development" does not include the construction,
modification, or operation of transmission lines for electricity,
gas, or oil or of any gathering or production lines for oil or
gas, provided that the construction, modification, or operation of
the lines does not cause the land to become ineligible for
valuation and assessment for real property tax purposes in
accordance with its current agricultural use value under sections
5713.30 to 5713.38 of the Revised Code.
(4) A listing of all administrative enforcement orders
issued
to each applicant who is submitting the application, all civil
actions in which an applicant
was determined by the trier of fact
to be liable in damages or was
the subject of injunctive relief or
another type of civil relief,
and all criminal actions in which an
applicant pleaded guilty or
was convicted, during the ten years
immediately preceding the date
of submission of the application,
in connection with any violation
of environmental laws or similar
laws of another state. As used
in division (A)(4) of this section,
"environmental laws" has the
same meaning as in section 3745.70 of
the Revised Code.
(5) A statement from the natural resources conservation
service in the United States department of agriculture, a soil and
water conservation district with jurisdiction over the land to
which the application applies, or any other conservation
professional approved by the director that, at the time of the
application, each applicant who is submitting the application is
complying with best management
practices;
(6) A
map that
complies with all of the
following:
(a) Is prepared and certified by a regional or county
planning
commission established under section 713.21 of the
Revised Code or;
a professional engineer, including a county
engineer, or surveyor registered
under Chapter 4733.
of the
Revised Code; a soil and water conservation district created
pursuant to section 1515.03 of the Revised Code; or the natural
resources
conservation service;
(b) Identifies the area of land to which the application
applies and includes the corresponding parcel number that the
county auditor has assigned under section 319.28 of the Revised
Code to each parcel of land that comprises that area;
(c) Shows the boundaries of the land to be enrolled in an
agricultural security area;
(d) Shows the names and locations of all streams, creeks, or
other
bodies of water, roads, rights-of-way, and railroads,
utility
lines, and water
and sewer
lines together with any
existing
residential,
recreational, commercial, or industrial
facilities
that are on or
are situated on the land to be included
in the area
and within
five hundred
feet of the perimeter of the
area;. The map also shall show the location of all utility, water,
and sewer lines that are situated on the land to be included in
the area and within five hundred feet of the perimeter of the area
unless the board of county commissioners of each county and the
board of township trustees of each township in which the land is
located exempts the application from that requirement because the
information generally is not readily available.
(e) Indicates the date on which the map was prepared;
(f) Identifies the person or persons who prepared the map.
(7) A list of the other boards of township
trustees and
boards of county commissioners to whom an application
has been
submitted.
An application submitted under this section is a public
record.
A board of township trustees and a board of county
commissioners each may establish a reasonable fee or schedule of
fees to be paid at the time that an application is submitted for
the purpose of paying the costs of public notice and certified
mail that are incurred in any proceedings conducted under this
chapter. The clerk of the board shall maintain an accurate and
detailed accounting of all money that is received and expended in
the processing of an application and shall return to the applicant
any unused portion of the fee or fees after the conclusion of the
proceedings.
(B) An area shall be
established as an
agricultural security
area when all of the following criteria are
satisfied:
(1) The area consists of not less than five hundred acres of
contiguous farmland that is located in the unincorporated area of
a township or county.
In order to satisfy this requirement, two or
more owners of contiguous farmland may aggregate their land.
(2) The land forming the area is in an agricultural
district
or districts established under Chapter 929. of the
Revised
Code.
(3) The land forming the area is valued and assessed for
real
property tax purposes in accordance with its current
agricultural
use
value under sections 5713.30 to 5713.38 of the
Revised
Code.
Land forming the area that is a portion of a farm
on which is
located a dwelling house, a yard, or outbuildings such
as a barn
or garage shall be deemed to satisfy the criteria
established in
divisions (B)(1) and (3) of this section.
(4) Each application submitted by the owner or owners of the
land
forming the area is approved under section 931.03 of the
Revised
Code by the boards of township trustees of all of the
townships in which the land is located.
(5) Each application submitted by the owner or owners of the
land
forming the area is approved under section 931.03 of the
Revised
Code by the boards of county commissioners of all
of the
counties in which the land is located.
(C) Additional contiguous farmland may be enrolled in an
existing agricultural security area during a partially elapsed
ten-year enrollment period either by a landowner who already has
land enrolled in the agricultural security area or by a landowner
who does not already have land enrolled in the agricultural
security area. To enroll additional contiguous land in an existing
agricultural security area
under this division, a landowner shall
obtain permission from each
owner of land that already is
enrolled in the agricultural
security area, submit an application
in accordance with this
section, and obtain approval of the
application from all
appropriate boards of township trustees and
boards of county
commissioners in accordance with section 931.03
of the Revised
Code. Enrollment of the additional land in the
existing agricultural
security area shall continue until the
expiration of the current, partially elapsed ten-year
enrollment
period and may be renewed in accordance with section
931.06 of
the Revised Code.
(D) If an owner of land that is enrolled in an agricultural
security area transfers the land to another person during a
partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period, the land may remain
in the agricultural security area until the expiration of that
period, provided that both of the following apply:
(1) The transferee certifies and submits a statement,
together with the transferee's first, middle, and last name and a
description of the transferred land, to the appropriate boards of
township trustees and boards of county commissioners specifying
that, in accordance with division
(A)(3) of this section, the
transferee will not initiate, approve,
or finance any new
development for nonagricultural purposes on the
transferred land
during the remainder of the partially elapsed
ten-year enrollment
period. Upon receipt of the statement, the boards of township
trustees and boards of county commissioners shall adopt a
resolution acknowledging the receipt.
(2) The transferred land continues to satisfy the criteria
established in divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section during the
remainder of the partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period.
Divisions (A), (B), and (C) of section 931.03 of the Revised
Code do not apply to the continued inclusion of such transferred
land in an agricultural security area. Upon the expiration of the
partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period, enrollment in the
agricultural security area may be renewed in accordance with
section 931.06 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 931.03. (A)(1) Not later than sixty days after
receipt
of an
application submitted under section 931.02 of the
Revised
Code,
the board of township trustees of each township in
which the
land
that is proposed for enrollment in an agricultural
security
area is located
and the board
of county commissioners of
each
county in which the land
is located shall hear the
application at
the
next regularly scheduled meeting of the board.
A board, not
later than thirty days prior to the time of the
meeting,
shall
cause a notice containing the time and place
of the
meeting to be
published in a newspaper of
general circulation in
the township or
county, as applicable,
and to be sent to the
superintendent of
each school district within the proposed
agricultural security
area, the county engineer of each county in which the proposed
area would be located, the legislative authority of each municipal
corporation that is located within one-half mile of the boundaries
of the proposed area if the municipal corporation has requested
notice of such a meeting, and the director of transportation.
As part of the hearing on an application, a board shall
review any information that it possesses concerning improvements
that are planned to be made during the subsequent ten years to
existing or proposed roads that are located or are to be located
within the area that is proposed
for enrollment in an agricultural
security area. As used in
division (A)(1) of this section,
"proposed road" means any future roadway project that is on a new
alignment or relocation of an existing alignment and for which
state or federal funding has been allocated for, but not limited
to, a planning level roadway improvement study, an interchange
justification or bypass study, environmental review, design,
right-of-way acquisition, or construction, and "improvement"
includes any action
taken with respect to an existing or proposed
road that would cause the road
to cover a portion of land that it
does not cover or is not proposed to cover at the time of
the
hearing. Any portion of land that would be covered by a
planned
improvement shall not be eligible for enrollment in an
agricultural security area.
As part of the hearing on an application, a board also may
consider any comprehensive plan that is in place for the county or
township, as applicable, and may choose to approve or reject the
application on the basis of the proposed agricultural security
area's compliance with the comprehensive plan.
(2) The board of township trustees of each township and the
board of county commissioners of each county that is required to
hear an application under division (A)(1) of this section may
conduct a joint meeting in lieu of meeting separately not later
than forty-five days after receipt of an application under section
931.02 of the Revised Code. A single public notice concerning the
meeting shall be provided in the manner prescribed in division
(A)(1) of this section in each township and county participating
in the meeting. The cost of the public notice shall be shared
equally by all townships and counties participating in the joint
meeting.
For purposes of such a joint meeting, the clerk of the board
of county commissioners of the county that includes the most land
that is located or is to be located within the agricultural
security area shall serve as the clerk on behalf of all boards of
county commissioners and boards of township trustees participating
in the joint meeting. The clerk's duties shall include providing
the public notice that is required under this section together
with maintaining minutes and a record of proceedings for the joint
meeting.
(3) Not later than forty-five days after a board of township
trustees hears the application and not later than sixty days after
a board of county commissioners hears the application, each
respective
board shall adopt a resolution
either approving or
rejecting the
application.
However, if a board determines that
the information
in the application is
incorrect or the application
is incomplete,
the board shall
return the application to the
applicant, by
certified mail, with
an enumeration of the items
that are
incorrect or incomplete.
Upon receipt of the returned application, the applicant may
amend
the application. Not later than fifteen days after receipt
of the returned
application, the applicant may submit an amended
application to each board
of township trustees and each board of
county commissioners to
whom the original application was
submitted.
Not later than thirty days after
receipt of an amended
application, a board
shall adopt a resolution
either approving or
rejecting the amended
application. Not later than five days after
adoption of the resolution,
the
board shall notify the applicant,
by
certified mail, of the board's decision to
approve or reject
the application.
(4) Any person may submit comments to any board of county
commissioners or board of township trustees to which an
application or amended application has been submitted under this
chapter at any time prior to and at any public meeting at which
the application or amended application is heard.
(B)(1) An agricultural security area is established, and the
land
that is proposed for inclusion in the area is enrolled in the
area, upon
the adoption of a resolution by each of the affected
boards of township
trustees and
boards of county commissioners
approving the same
version of the application or applications
requesting the
establishment of the
area.
(2) Not later than thirty days after a board adopts a
resolution
approving the establishment of an agricultural security
area, the board shall send a copy
of the resolution to the
director of
agriculture, the director of transportation, the
superintendent of each school district within the area, the county
engineer, and the
county auditor.
(C) A resolution approving the establishment of an
agricultural
security area shall include all of the following:
(1) A statement that the board of township trustees or board
of county
commissioners, as applicable, commits not to initiate,
approve, or finance any development for residential, commercial,
or industrial
purposes, including construction of new roads and
water and sewer lines,
within the area for a
period of ten years.
For purposes of division (C)(1) of this section, "development"
does not include any of the following:
(a) The improvement of existing roads, provided that the
county engineer of each county in which the portion of the area
affected by the improvement is located determines that the
improvement is necessary for traffic safety, and provided that the
improvement is as consistent as possible with the agricultural use
of land in the area;
(b) The construction, modification, or operation of
transmission lines for electricity, gas, or oil or of any
gathering or production lines for oil or gas, provided that the
construction, modification, or operation of the lines does not
cause the land to become ineligible for valuation and assessment
for real property tax purposes in accordance with its current
agricultural use value under sections 5713.30 to 5713.38 of the
Revised Code;
(c) The construction, modification, or operation of water
lines or sewer lines, provided that an official or employee of the
environmental protection agency orders the construction,
modification, or operation for the purpose of enabling water and
sewer service areas that are outside of the agricultural security
area to be connected to each other, and provided that the lines do
not provide service connections to land within the agricultural
security area.
(2) A requirement that the owner or owners of the land in
the
area use
best management practices;
(3) A statement that describes the agreement that was
reached
with other boards, if applicable, under section 5709.28 of
the
Revised Code concerning the percentage of the taxable value of
qualifying agricultural real property in the agricultural security
area that is to be exempted from taxation under that section and
the number of years that the tax exemption established under that
section will apply to that property.
(D) An agricultural security area may continue in existence
for
ten years unless either of the following occurs:
(1) The sole owner of land enrolled in the area
withdraws
under section 931.07 of the Revised Code.
(2) Unless division (C) of section 931.07 of the Revised
Code
applies, land in the area fails to satisfy any of the criteria
specified in divisions
(B)(1) to (3) of section
931.02 of the
Revised Code.
(E) The approval or disapproval of an application under this
section is not a final order, adjudication, or decision under
section 2506.01 of the Revised Code and is not appealable under
Chapter 2506. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 931.04. (A) An owner of land that is enrolled in an
agricultural security area may do either or both of
the
following:
(1) Request approval
to operate
any business that does not
impair the owner's ability to engage in
agriculture from each
board of township trustees and each board
of county
commissioners
that
adopted a resolution approving the
establishment of the
agricultural security area to operate any business that does not
impair the owner's ability to engage in agriculture and does not
cause the land to become ineligible for valuation and assessment
for real property tax purposes in accordance with its current
agricultural use value under sections 5713.30 to 5713.38 of the
Revised Code;
(2) Develop, authorize the development of, or, for the
purpose of
developing, transfer ownership of a portion of the
owner's land within the
agricultural security area for
constructing or otherwise
establishing a single-family residence
for an
individual who is related by
consanguinity or by affinity
to the
owner. Not more than one such residence shall be
constructed per each forty acres of the owner's land within the
agricultural security area.
(B)(1) To obtain approval to operate a business
under
division (A)(1)
of this section, a person shall send a written
request, by certified mail, to
each appropriate board of
township
trustees and each appropriate board of county
commissioners. The
request
shall contain all of the following:
(a) A description of the proposed business;
(b) A description of the intended location of the
business;
(c) A description of the intended size of the
business;
(d) If applicable, a detailed description of any
construction,
renovation, or excavation that will occur for
purposes of the proposed
business.
(2) Not later than thirty days after receipt of a request
under division
(B)(1)
of this section, a board shall adopt a
resolution either approving or rejecting the
request. If the
board
approves the request,
the board shall send a
copy of the
resolution approving the request to each of
the
following not
later than thirty days after adopting the
resolution:
(a) The director of agriculture;
(b) Each appropriate county auditor;
(c) The person requesting the business.
(3) If all of the appropriate boards of township trustees
and
boards of
county commissioners adopt a resolution approving
the
request to
operate
a business, the person making
the request
may
establish
the requested business.
(C) The amount of land that is used for either purpose
authorized
under division (A) of this
section
shall be included
when determining if the acreage requirement established
under
division
(B) of
section 931.02 of the Revised Code is satisfied.
Sec. 931.99. Whoever violates division (A)(2) of section
931.07 of the Revised Code or section 931.08 of the Revised Code
shall be fined five hundred dollars for violation of each section.
The clerk of the court that receives payment of the fine money
shall forward half of the money to the board of township trustees
of the township and half of the money to the board of county
commissioners of the county in which the applicable agricultural
security area is located.
In the case of an agricultural security area that is located
in more than one township, the clerk shall divide half of the fine
money in equal shares among the townships and shall forward the
appropriate portion to each board of township trustees. In the
case of an agricultural security area that is located in more than
one county, the clerk shall divide half of the fine money in equal
shares among the counties and shall forward the appropriate
portion to each board of county commissioners.
A board of township trustees or a board of county
commissioners may, but is not required to, use the fine money
received under this section for farmland preservation purposes.
Sec. 5709.28. As used in this section,
"qualifying
agricultural
real property" means a building, structure,
improvement, or fixture that is used exclusively for agricultural
purposes, that is
located on land enrolled in an
agricultural
security
area established under
Chapter 931. of the
Revised Code,
and for which the aggregate new investment has a
true value in
money of twenty-five thousand
dollars or more.
At the time of the establishment or renewal of an
agricultural security area or at any time during which land is
enrolled in an agricultural security area, a percentage of the
taxable value of qualifying
agricultural
real property first
appearing on the real and public
utility
property tax list in a
tax year during the enrollment may be exempted from
taxation.
The
board of township trustees of each township in which the land
that
is enrolled in the agricultural security area is located and
the
board of county commissioners of each county in which the land
is
located shall confer with each other and reach an agreement
concerning the tax exemption. At the time the agreement is
reached, the boards shall send written notice of the agreement to
the superintendent of each school district within the agricultural
security area. After the agreement is reached and the tax
exemption is granted, the qualifying agricultural real property
shall become exempt in the tax year following the year in which
the construction of the property is completed.
The agreement shall establish the percentage of the
taxable
value of qualifying agricultural real property that is to
be
exempted from taxation and the number of years that the tax
exemption will apply to that property. The agreement may specify
that the tax years during which the exemption will apply to the
property may extend past the scheduled expiration date of the
period of enrollment in the agricultural security area, provided
that the enrollment is renewed and otherwise continues during the
tax years that the exemption applies. The agreement shall not
exempt from taxation more than seventy-five per cent of the
taxable value of the qualifying agricultural real property. In
addition, the agreement may establish the maximum amount of the
value of the qualifying agricultural real property to which the
tax exemption may apply. Subsequent to the agreement establishing
that maximum amount, the owner of the property may request the
applicable boards to alter the agreement and increase the maximum
value of the property to which the tax exemption applies. The
agreement shall be reviewed annually by the tax incentive review
council in accordance with section 5709.85 of the Revised Code.
Each time that a renewal application is filed for an
agricultural security area that involves qualifying agricultural
real property that has been the subject of an exemption that
expired on or before the date on which the previous period of
enrollment in an agricultural security area expired, the
applicable boards shall reach a new agreement concerning the
exemption before any of the boards adopts a resolution either
approving or rejecting the renewal application.
The county auditor shall enter on the list of property
described in section 5713.07 of the Revised Code that is exempt
from taxation any qualifying agricultural real property that is
the subject of an exemption under this section. An application
shall not be required to be filed under section 5715.27 of the
Revised Code with respect to the exemption. The county auditor
shall remove the qualifying agricultural real property from the
list at the time that the county auditor discovers or is notified
under section 931.07 of the Revised Code that a withdrawal,
removal, or conversion of land from an agricultural security area
has occurred in a way that makes the qualifying agricultural real
property no longer eligible for the exemption.
If the county auditor removes qualifying agricultural real
property from the list of property that is exempt from taxation
and the owner of the removed property claimed a tax exemption
established under this
section for a prior tax year, the amount of
tax otherwise imposed
on the qualifying agricultural real property
that was the subject
of the exemption shall be increased. The
amount of the increase
shall equal the aggregate
value of the tax
exemption received by
the taxpayer under this
section since the
agricultural security
area was most recently approved for
establishment or renewal, as
applicable, plus interest
on that
amount at the average bank prime
rate, as determined under
section
929.02 of the Revised Code, at
the time that the county auditor
removes the property from the list of property that is exempt from
taxation. The tax
year in which the increase shall occur is
dependent upon the date
on which the county auditor makes a
discovery or is notified
under section 931.07 of the Revised Code
that a withdrawal,
removal, or conversion of land from an
agricultural security area
has occurred. If the discovery or
notification occurs prior to
the date in a tax year on which the
county auditor delivers a copy
of the general tax list to the
county treasurer under section
319.28 of the Revised Code, the
increase shall occur in the same
tax year that the discovery or
notification occurred. If the
discovery or notification occurs on
or after the date in a tax
year on which the copy of the general
tax list is delivered to the
county treasurer, the increase shall
occur in the tax year that
immediately follows the year in which
the discovery or
notification occurred.
Section 2. That existing sections 931.02, 931.03, 931.04,
931.99, and 5709.28 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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