Washington Administrative Code › Title 458 - Revenue, Department of › Chapter 458-16 - Property tax Exemptions › Section 458-16-290 - Nature conservancy lands

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
Introduction.
This rule explains the property tax exemption
			 available under the provisions of
			 RCW
			 84.36.260 to a nonprofit corporation or
			 association, of which the primary purpose is to conduct or facilitate
			 scientific research or to conserve natural resources or open space for the
			 general public.
(2)
Definitions.
For purposes of this rule, the following definitions
			 apply:
(a)"Cessation of use" means a
			 nonprofit association or corporation that has an interest in, or a nonprofit
			 association or corporation that exclusively used exempt real property, has
			 ceased to physically use the property for a use exempt under the provisions of
			 subsection (3) of this rule. The term also refers to property no longer being
			 used for an exempt use even if the owner intends to find or is pursuing an
			 alternative exempt use for the property. "Cessation of use" also refers to
			 property that has lost its exempt status because it was sold, transferred,
			 loaned, or rented to an owner or user that is not qualified to be exempt from
			 property taxes.
(b)"Conservation
			 futures" means rights in perpetuity to the future development of any open space
			 land, farm and agricultural land, and timber land, classified under the
			 provisions of
			 chapter
			 84.34 RCW and taxed at the
			 current use assessment rate as provided by that chapter and are purchased or
			 acquired (except by eminent domain) by a county, city, town, municipal
			 corporation, nonprofit historic preservation corporation, or nonprofit
			 conservancy corporation or association.
(c) "Governmental entity" means any political
			 unit or division of the federal, state, county, city, or municipal
			 government.
(d) "Nonprofit
			 conservancy corporation or association" means an organization that qualifies as
			 being tax exempt under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501 (c)(3) of the United States Internal
			 Revenue Code as it existed on June 25, 1976, and that has as one of its
			 principal purposes: The conducting or facilitating of scientific research; the
			 conserving of natural resources, including but not limited to biological
			 resources, for the general public; or the conserving of open spaces, including
			 but not limited to wildlife or plant habitat to be utilized as public access
			 areas, for the use and enjoyment of the general public.
(e) "Nonprofit historical preservation
			 corporation" means an organization that qualifies as being tax exempt under 26
			 U.S.C. Sec. 501 (c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as
			 amended, and has as one of its principal purposes the conducting or
			 facilitating of historic preservation activities within a state including, but
			 not limited to, the conservation or preservation of historic sites, districts,
			 buildings, and artifacts.
(f)"Person or company" means any individual,
			 receiver, administrator, executor, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, trust,
			 estate, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, club, company, joint stock
			 company, business trust, municipal corporation, political unit or division of
			 the state of Washington, corporation, association, society, or any group of
			 individuals acting as a unit, whether mutual, cooperative, fraternal,
			 nonprofit, or otherwise, and the United States and any instrumentality
			 thereof.
(g) "Real property
			 interests" means any interest in real property including, but not limited to,
			 fee simple or a lesser ownership interest, developmental rights, easements,
			 covenants, and conservation futures.
(h) "Rollback" refers to the provisions of
			 RCW 84.36.-262 that make previously exempt property subject to back taxes and
			 interest because of the cessation of an exempt use or a change in
			 ownership.