Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 61 - REVENUE AND TAXATION › Part V - Ad Valorem Taxation › Chapter 2 - Policies and Procedures for Assessment and Change Order Practices › Section V-207 - Use Value Properties

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A.
				Assessors shall confirm eligibility of use value properties and list the
				properties indicating its use value classification, number of acres (by each
				classification), and a physical address (or clear directions to property) to
				enable the LTC staff appraisers to locate, if deemed necessary.
B. To be eligible for use value assessment
				classification, the property must be bona fide agricultural, horticultural,
				marsh or timberland and assessed at its use value under the provisions of
				Article VII, Section 18(C) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. Use value
				properties must meet the definition of bona fide agricultural, horticultural,
				marsh or timberland as described in
				R.S.
				47:2301 ("Use value of bona fide
				agricultural, horticultural and timberland means the highest value of such land
				when used by a prudent agricultural, horticultural or timber operator for the
				sole purpose of continuing the operation, as a commercial agricultural,
				horticultural or timber use").
				R.S.
				47:2302 ("land devoted to the production for
				sale, in reasonable commercial quantities" or in the case of timberland
				"timberland under a contract with a state or federal agency restricting its use
				for timber production"), and further requirements are:
1. at least 3 acres in size (no rounding up
				to achieve this acreage requirement), or have produced an average gross annual
				income of at least $2,000 in one or more of the designated classifications for
				the four proceeding years, per
				R.S.
				47:2303.A; and
2. the landowner has signed an agreement that
				the land will be devoted to one or more of the designated uses as defined in
				R.S.
				47:2304;
3. taxpayer shall sign a use value
				application, which shall be considered permanent (except the parishes of
				Orleans and Jefferson, which require that the taxpayer shall sign a use value
				application at least every four years), per
				R.S.
				47:2304(B)(1); except that
				in the event of a sale of the property, the purchaser must sign a new
				application within 60 days from date of the sale;
4. Loss of Eligibility. If land having a use
				value assessment is sold for a price four times greater than its use value, the
				land shall be presumed to be no longer eligible to be classified as bona fide
				agricultural, horticultural, marsh or timberland. Some legislative provisions
				are further identified in
				R.S.
				47:2305;
5. if the land ceases to meet the use value
				eligibility requirements, the taxpayer is statutorily responsible for notifying
				the assessor where the property is located within 60 days following the
				effective date of loss of eligibility;
6. in the event that the landowner obtains a
				use value assessment by means of false certifications on his application, or
				fails to timely notify the assessor of loss of eligibility for use value
				assessment, he shall be liable for a penalty equal to five times the difference
				between the tax under a market value assessment and the tax under a use value
				assessment for the tax years in which the use value assessment was attributable
				to the false certifications or failure to timely notify the assessor of loss of
				eligibility (R.S.
				47:2306).