SB 121-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2015 SESSION
15-0895
09/01
SENATE BILL 121-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to definitions used for purposes of current use taxation.
SPONSORS: Sen. Daniels, Dist 11; Rep. Verschueren, Straf 13
This bill inserts new definitions for purposes of current use taxation.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
15-0895
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen
AN ACT relative to definitions used for purposes of current use taxation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Current Use Taxation; Definitions. Amend RSA 79-A:2 to read as follows:
79-A:2 Definitions. In this chapter:
I. “Angle of repose” means the maximum slope, measured in degrees from the horizontal, at which loose solid material will remain in place without sliding. The determination of angle of repose under this chapter shall only be determined by a civil engineer licensed by the board of professional engineers under RSA 310-A.
II. “Assessing official” means the assessing authority of any town, city or place.
[II.] III. “Board” means the current use board established by RSA 79-A:3.
[III.] IV. “Board of tax and land appeals” means the board of tax and land appeals established pursuant to the provisions of RSA 71-B:1.
[IV.] V. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of the department of revenue administration.
[V.] VI. “Current use value” means the assessed valuation per acre of open space land based upon the income-producing capability of the land in its current use solely for growing forest or agricultural crops, and not its real estate market value. This valuation shall be determined by the assessor in accordance with the range of current use values established by the board and in accordance with the class, type, grade and location of land.
VII. “Dimension stone” means rock that is cut, shaped, or selected for use in blocks, slabs, sheets, or other construction units of specified shapes or sizes and used for external or interior parts of buildings, foundations, curbing, paving, flagging, bridges, revetments, or for other architectural or engineering purposes. Dimension stone includes quarry blocks from which sections of dimension stone are to be produced.
VIII. “Earth” means sand, gravel, rock, soil or construction aggregate produced by quarrying, crushing or any other mining activity or such other naturally-occurring unconsolidated materials that normally mask the bedrock. “Earth” shall not include dimension stone.
IX. “Excavated” means earth that has been extracted from its natural angle of repose.
[VI.] X. “Farm land” means any cleared land devoted to or capable of agricultural or horticultural use as determined and classified by criteria developed by the commissioner of agriculture, markets, and food and adopted by the board.
[VII.] XI. “Forest land” means any land growing trees as determined and classified by criteria developed by the state forester and adopted by the board. For the purposes of this paragraph, the board shall recognize the cost of responsible land stewardship in the determination of assessment ranges.
[VIII.] XII. “Land use change tax” means a tax that shall be levied when the land use changes from open space use to a non-qualifying use.
[IX.] XIII. “Open space land” means any or all farm land, forest land, or unproductive land as defined by this section. However, “open space land” shall not include any property held by a city, town or district in another city or town for the purpose of a water supply or flood control, for which a payment in place of taxes is made in accordance with RSA 72:11.
[X.] XIV. “Owner” means the person who is the owner of record of any land.
[XI.] XV. “Person” means any individual, firm, corporation, partnership or other form of organization or group of individuals.
[XII.] XVI. “Soil potential index” means the production capability of land as determined by the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[XIII.] XVII. “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 not to exceed that of the lowest current use value established by the board for any other category.
[XIV.] XVIII. “Wetlands” means those areas of farm, forest and unproductive land that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2015.
LBAO
15-0895
01/30/15
SB 121-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to definitions used for purposes of current use taxation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill, as introduced, will increase local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on state and county expenditures, or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill inserts new definitions for the purposes of current use taxation. In particular, the bill changes the definition of “excavated” earth exempt under the land use change tax to mean earth extracted up to its “natural angle of repose.” Such an exemption may reduce the amount of the land use change tax that would otherwise be assessed, but this change should have no impact on local revenue, as the change will merely shift the tax burden among local taxpayers. The bill will, however, result in an indeterminable increase in local expenditures, as it requires that the determination of the “angle of repose” be made by a licensed civil engineer. The Association states this requirement will result in additional costs to administer the current use law and to assess a land use change tax involving excavated properties.
The Department of Revenue Administration states this bill will have no fiscal impact.