Revision: March 22, 2010, midnight
HB 1609-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
03Mar2010… 0604h
2010 SESSION
09/03
HOUSE BILL 1609-FN
AN ACT relative to current use and the land use change tax.
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill changes the procedure for setting current use value of unproductive land, clarifies that the land use change tax is not a property tax but is a change of use tax, allows local assessing officials 6 years to discover that the land use change tax is due and payable and to mail the tax bill if they receive no written notice, and clarifies current use taxation of condominium development areas.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03Mar2010… 0604h
10-2415
09/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to current use and the land use change tax.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Definitions; Unproductive Land. Amend RSA 79-A:2, XIII to read as follows:
XIII. “Unproductive land” means land, including wetlands, which by its nature is incapable of producing agricultural or forest products due to poor soil or site characteristics, or the location of which renders it inaccessible or impractical to harvest agricultural or forest products, as determined and classified by criteria developed by the board. The board shall develop only one category for all unproductive land, setting its current use value [equal to] not to exceed that of the lowest current use value established by the board for any other category.
2 Land Use Change Tax. Amend RSA 79-A:7, I to read as follows:
I. Land which has been classified as open space land and assessed at current use values on or after April 1, 1974, pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to a land use change tax when it is changed to a use which does not qualify for current use assessment. Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 75:1, the tax shall be at the rate of 10 percent of the full and true value determined without regard to the current use value of the land which is subject to a non-qualifying use or any equalized value factor used by the municipality or the county in the case of unincorporated towns or unorganized places in which the land is located. Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 76:2, such assessed value shall be determined as of the actual date of the change in land use if such date is not April 1. This tax shall be in addition to the annual real estate tax imposed upon the property, and shall be due and payable upon the change in land use. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require payment of an additional land use change tax when the use is changed from one non-qualifying use to another non-qualifying use. The tax imposed by this section is a tax on the change of use of the land and not a tax on the land itself. The property tax exemptions under RSA 72:23 shall not apply to the land use change tax and no person or entity shall be exempt from payment of the land use change tax.
3 Land Use Change Tax. Amend RSA 79-A:7, II(c) to read as follows:
(c) Upon receipt of the land use change tax warrant and the prescribed forms, the tax collector shall mail the duplicate copy of the tax bill to the owner responsible for the tax as the notice thereof. Such bill shall be mailed, at the latest, within 12 months of the date upon which the local assessing officials receive written notice of the change of use from the landowner or his or her agent[, or within 12 months of the date the local assessing officials actually discover] on a form prescribed by the board. If no written notice is received, the local assessing officials shall have 6 years to discover that the land use change tax is due and payable and to mail the tax bill. Upon receipt of payment, but except for proceedings under RSA 79-A:7, VI(e), the collector shall forward the original tax bill to the register of deeds of the county in which the land is located for the purpose of releasing recorded contingent liens required under RSA 79-A:5, VI. The tax bill shall state clearly whether all, or only a portion, of the land affected by the notice of contingent lien is subject to release. The recording fee charged by the register of deeds shall be paid by the owner of the land in accordance with the fees to which the register of deeds is entitled under RSA [478:17; 478:17-f or] 478:17-g, I [as applicable].
4 New Subparagraph; Land Use Change Tax; Condominium Development Areas. Amend RSA 79-A:7, V by inserting after subparagraph (b) the following new subparagraph:
(c) When a road is constructed or utilities installed pursuant to a condominium development plan, only the development area shall be removed from current use along with the percentage interest in the open space land assigned to the unit or units within that development area.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2010.
LBAO
10-2415 Amended 03/18/10
HB 1609 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to current use and the land use change tax.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Revenue Administration and the New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill, as amended by the House (Amendment #2010-0604h), may increase state expenditures and local revenue by indeterminable amounts in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county revenue or county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Revenue Administration states this bill proposes various changes to RSA 79-A dealing with land assessed under current use and the assessment and enforcement of the land use change tax. Specifically, the Department states this bill sets a ceiling for the assessment of unproductive land, clarifies that the land use change tax is a tax on a change in the use of the land and not on the land itself, extends the period of time that local officials can discover that a land use change tax is due when not reported by the landowner from 1 to 6 years, and clarifies assessment of this tax applicable to condominium developments. The Department states the provision clarifying that the tax is a tax on the change in land use and not on the land itself eliminates the applicability of property tax exemptions to the land use change tax, which will make many of the state’s properties now subject to the land use change tax. The Department also states these changes made by the proposed bill should increase local revenues, but it does not have sufficient information to make a more specific projection.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association estimates the changes made by the proposed bill will increase local revenue, but it states it does not possess enough data to compute the specific amount of the increase.