AlphaBean said:
Bag said:
looking to move outside of the city and buy some land.
Can someone explain to me like I am five the difference between wildlife vs agricultural exemption?
- What does it take to get approved?
- What are the benefits / drawbacks of each?
- How much does it realistically save on taxes?
Thanks, I know I am asking a lot, just figured I would ask the experts
and yes, I did ask chatGPT. but I prefer humans, esp ones from an ag school
The state has very specific requirements and processes that in theory makes this very straight forward. Some counties like to make up their own **** and complicate things. Because of this, ease of gaining and maintaining can unfortunately depend on your county. I recommend contacting one of the companies who do this professionally to get a sense of which way your county goes.
Beyond that, land must already be ag approved. Then you begin your wildlife plan that meets state requirements (compete activities in 3 of 7 categories to the intensity required; some counties will "require" things not required by the state, and if you can it's easiest to just play along). Document your execution. Then you submit the state defined application by whatever deadline there is. Assuming you have met all the very clearly defined requirements, you should be approved. I believe a site visit is also required for approval. Each year you submit an annual update, again there is a state form but you don't have to use. Periodic site visits. Pretty straight forward. It is revenue neutral, meaning the exact same tax benefits apply in terms of property taxes. What you don't get is an ag ID for sales tax exemption.
I just went through this process in Hopkins County. PM me if you would like to discuss. My experience was like this with some exceptions.
I would recommend you contact the wildlife biologist through TPWD for that county. One, its free. Two, if he signs off on your plan (he will help you with it), you should be good to go.
The three most popular activities are habitat control, supplemental feed (food plots and bird feeders more than deer feeders) and supplemental shelter. The requirements are definitely not clearly defined! I believe deadline is April 30th.
Every year, you will need to submit an annual report. My understanding is that it does need to be state form. You can add logs and pictures to get through the system easier. Site visits can happen under any type of Ag designation including Wildlife. I think if they are visiting, your annual report needs to be beefier.
