Texas Wildlife Management tax exemption

[Alan L.]

I was wondering if anyone here in Texas has this? The forms seem daunting, there are many questions I don't know how to answer, like what is my target male to female deer population?

I have 24 acres of which 7 acres is in hay production, 3 taken up by the residence and a pond, and other 24 is heavily wooded creek/flood plain. After 10 years when the appraisal district knew full well exactly how many acres of "not used" land I have they took all of it out of 1-d-1 ag on the basis that 7 out of 24 is not "intense" enough. I had my protest hearing today. One of the appraisal board members asked the appraiser if I could qualify for wildlife (I had pics of wildlife etc and this is a very rugged piece of property). She said probably and I could apply next year. I think the board denied my exemption and went along with her based on the fact they figure I can go right to the wildlife exemption. I suspect she will manage to change her tune when it comes to actually getting it, and I don't see how I can get it once they have booted me out of 1-d-1 (open space).

But you have to be 1-d-1 first, and if they have denied that now after 10 years I don't see how I can now get the wildlife management designation.

Anyway, I wondered if any on here have it and how hard was it to get? I do provide supplemental water and food to animals, I have build the pond for erosion control, I cut brush, etc.

 

[two_bit_score]

Have you looked into getting the 1-d-1 for Timber?

I don't have the wildlife exemption but a few years back it was a big topic and seemed to me to be easy to get. Some people I know qualified for it based on making their property a 'butterfly habitat' (WTH?). It almost seemed like a loophole to me.

I'd recommend a sitdown with the Chief Appraiser at your Appraisal District if you want to persue it.

 

[two_bit_score]

Harris County has one of the best CAD websites I know of as far as having forms, etc available. Here is something I saw there that might apply in your case:
Application
The law does not require an annual application for agricultural use once the land has qualified. Because only 1-d-1 qualified land may qualify for wildlife management use, the owner who changes to this use need not reapply for agricultural appraisal.
The law, however, does require an owner who changes the category of agricultural use to notify the chief appraiser of the change of use. When an owner changes agricultural use to wildlife management, the owner must notify the chief appraiser in writing before May 1 of the year in which the owner wants to qualify under wildlife management use. The chief appraiser will then determine if the land qualifies for wildlife management use. Likewise, an owner must notify the chief appraiser if land is switched from wildlife management use to another qualifying agricultural use.

Owners should contact their county appraisal districts about notification requirements before changing the use of small portions of their land from one qualified agricultural use to another. For example, if an owner builds a 10-acre pond to supply supplemental water on a 1000-acre tract, the owner should ask about the appraisal district's need for notification and documentation requirements.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HCAD: Texas Wildlife Management and Appraisal

 

[tanglefoot]

Alan,
I live in Hunt County, just two counties to the southeast of Grayson County. I am not familiar with the wildlife exemption, but I have heard about people who have lost their ag exemption in this area. Our tax appraisal district seems to going to extremes in its attempts to collect the maximum amount from an area that has seen housing and land values decrease. My taxes went up again this year.
Butch

 

[clemsonfor]

Here in SC you can get ag taxes on land regardless or crops or not. My land is ag, i grow timber. This does not mean that i have to have or even plan a timber sale, but i think it is to encourage timber as its our #1 industry in the state as well as not sell everything off into trailer lots.

 

[EddieWalker]

I went to a seminar put on by the Ag Extension that covered changing your ag excemption from agriculture to wildlife. For me, the big news was that anybody can do it except those with timber excemptions. I have a timber excemption on my lnad and cannot make the change.

From what the guy said, and what I remember, you only have to "USE" the land for wildlife enjoyment. You don't have to hunt it or fish it. You don't have to make any changes to it. There is a list of around 20 things that you need to do, or intned to do on the land, to qualify. Nature photography and nature hikes are the two that I was going to select if I could qualify for it.

Talk to somebody at the Ag Extension who knows about these things. They had pamphlets and quite a bit of literature on it. Unfortunately, I didn't save any of it.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Alan L.]

One problem I see is that it seems some of the requirements are that I have to "do" something, but most of these things I've already done. I built a pond, which furnishes an alternate source of water, but I read somewhere where it doesn't count if you already have it. I won't have any trouble with making brush piles, and I cut trails through very thick vegetation and brush which the deer now use to migrate through my property, stopping at a feeder or two on the way through. And I already take a census of the deer and bobcat population. My son in law has identified all the deer, knows how old they are, and so we know how many different ones we have seen in person or on the game cameras.

Hay, I also stocked the pond and feed the catfish. There are some big ones in there.

My fear is that while I have had 1-d-1 for about 8 years, the appaiser just booted me out of it. If you have to have it to get wildlife I don't understand how I can get it now. Our appraiser is out to get me. I still thing she was wrong, I don't understand why I can't have 7 of my 24 acres in 1-d-1 while a guy who has 7 out of 8 gets his. Makes no sense at all to me. My guess its who you know, nothing to do with your land.

Anyone who does not protest his valuation is leaving money on the table, because the appraiser will NOT decrease the value even their comps indicate they should. Thats why I got $20,000 of value knocked off during my hearing, and I was concentrating so much on the ag exemption I never mentioned it.

 

[tanglefoot]

Alan,
The only thing I've been able to accomplish by going to a board hearing was to get the measurements of two of my buildings adjusted, thereby decreasing the assessed value. But since the last one I attended four years ago, I've been able to talk to the assigned appraiser without an appointment each year. At these meetings I've managed to show the appraiser what I disagree with, and , so far, I've gotten the assessment reduced to an amount I was comfortable with. The only problem with that happened last year after my meeting. The appraiser and I agreed on the assessment, then the school board decided to raise the tax rate later that summer. That raised my taxes.
Butch

 

[BillG_in_TX]

I had my protest hearing today. One of the appraisal board members asked the appraiser if I could qualify for wildlife (I had pics of wildlife etc and this is a very rugged piece of property). She said probably and I could apply next year. I think the board denied my exemption and went along with her based on the fact they figure I can go right to the wildlife exemption. I suspect she will manage to change her tune when it comes to actually getting it, and I don't see how I can get it once they have booted me out of 1-d-1 (open space).

But you have to be 1-d-1 first, and if they have denied that now after 10 years I don't see how I can now get the wildlife management designation.

Alan,

I think the most important things to follow up on right now are your appeal rights. If the board does deny your exemption, you may still have the right to appeal their decision to a higher authority. I believe that if you do lose your ag exemption, it may be years (5?) before you can get it back, and then you have to prove that it was in ag use all of that time.

 

[warhammer]

Not up on the particulars of wildlife exemptions. I believe those rules were changed a few years back to make it harder to get.
I am in Central Texas and am trying to bring a 9 acre part of my farm into Ag status after being left vacant for a very long time.
The rule here is Ag use 5 out of the last 7 years.
The procedure is to fill out an Ag exemption request for 6 years. The county said they will deny it for the first 5 years while you are "establishing the exemption" and should grant it on the sixth request.

WarHammer

I was wondering if anyone here in Texas has this? The forms seem daunting, there are many questions I don't know how to answer, like what is my target male to female deer population?

I have 24 acres of which 7 acres is in hay production, 3 taken up by the residence and a pond, and other 24 is heavily wooded creek/flood plain. After 10 years when the appraisal district knew full well exactly how many acres of "not used" land I have they took all of it out of 1-d-1 ag on the basis that 7 out of 24 is not "intense" enough. I had my protest hearing today. One of the appraisal board members asked the appraiser if I could qualify for wildlife (I had pics of wildlife etc and this is a very rugged piece of property). She said probably and I could apply next year. I think the board denied my exemption and went along with her based on the fact they figure I can go right to the wildlife exemption. I suspect she will manage to change her tune when it comes to actually getting it, and I don't see how I can get it once they have booted me out of 1-d-1 (open space).

But you have to be 1-d-1 first, and if they have denied that now after 10 years I don't see how I can now get the wildlife management designation.

Anyway, I wondered if any on here have it and how hard was it to get? I do provide supplemental water and food to animals, I have build the pond for erosion control, I cut brush, etc.