Sen. John M. Sullivan

Filed: 5/24/2007

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 17

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 17 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by adding
5 Division 16 to Article 10 as follows:
 
6     (35 ILCS 200/Art. 10 Div. 16 heading new)
7
DIVISION 16. CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP LAW

 
8     (35 ILCS 200/10-400 new)
9     Sec. 10-400. Short title; findings and policy.
10     (a) This Division may be cited as the Conservation
11 Stewardship Law.
12     (b) The General Assembly finds that it is in the best
13 interest of this State to maintain, preserve, conserve, and
14 manage unimproved land to assure the protection of these
15 limited and unique environmental resources for the economic and

 

 

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1 social well-being of the State and its citizens.
2     The General Assembly further finds that, to maximize
3 voluntary taxpayer participation in conservation programs,
4 conservation should be recognized as a legitimate land use and
5 taxpayers should have a full range of incentive programs from
6 which to choose.
7     Therefore, the General Assembly declares that it is in the
8 public interest to prevent the forced conversion of unimproved
9 land to more intensive uses as a result of economic pressures
10 caused by the property tax system at values incompatible with
11 their preservation and management as unimproved land, and that
12 a program should be designed to permit the continued
13 availability of this land for these purposes.
14     The General Assembly further declares that the following
15 provisions are intended to allow for the conservation,
16 management, and assessment of unimproved land generally
17 suitable for the perpetual growth and preservation of such land
18 in this State.
 
19     (35 ILCS 200/10-405 new)
20     Sec. 10-405. Definitions. As used in this Division:
21     "Unimproved land" means woodlands, prairie, wetlands, or
22 other vacant and undeveloped land that is not used for any
23 residential or commercial purpose that materially disturbs the
24 land.
25     "Conservation management plan" means a plan approved by the

 

 

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1 Department of Natural Resources that specifies conservation
2 and management practices, including uses that will be conducted
3 to preserve and restore unimproved land.
4     "Managed land" means unimproved land of 5 acres or more
5 that is subject to a conservation management plan.
 
6     (35 ILCS 200/10-410 new)
7     Sec. 10-410. Conservation management plan; rules. The
8 Department of Natural Resources shall adopt rules specifying
9 the form and content of a conservation management plan
10 sufficient for managed land to be valued under this Division.
11 The rules adopted under this Section must require a description
12 of the managed land and must specify the conservation and
13 management practices that are appropriate to preserve and
14 maintain unimproved land in this State and any other
15 conservation practices.
 
16     (35 ILCS 200/10-415 new)
17     Sec. 10-415. Plan submission and review; approval.
18     (a) A taxpayer requesting special valuation of unimproved
19 land under this Division must first submit a conservation
20 management plan for that land to the Department of Natural
21 Resources for review. The Department of Natural Resources shall
22 review each submitted plan for compliance with the standards
23 and criteria set forth in its rules.
24     (b) Upon approval, the Department of Natural Resources

 

 

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1 shall issue to the taxpayer a written declaration that the land
2 is subject to a conservation management plan approved by the
3 Department of Natural Resources.
4     (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall reapprove the
5 plan every 10 years and revise it when necessary or
6 appropriate.
7     (d) If a plan is not approved, then the Department of
8 Natural Resources shall state the reasons for the denial and
9 provide the taxpayer an opportunity to amend the plan to
10 conform to the requirements of this Division. If the
11 application is denied a second time, the taxpayer may appeal
12 the decision to an independent 3-member panel to be established
13 within the Department of Natural Resources.
14     (e) The submission of an application for a conservation
15 management plan under this Section or of a forestry management
16 plan under Section 10-150 shall be treated as compliance with
17 the requirements of that plan until the Department of Natural
18 Resources can review the application. The Department of Natural
19 Resources shall certify, to the Department, these applications
20 as being approved plans for the purpose of this Division.
 
21     (35 ILCS 200/10-420 new)
22     Sec. 10-420. Special valuation of managed land;
23 exceptions.
24     (a) In all counties, except for Cook County, beginning with
25 assessments made in 2008 and thereafter, managed land for which

 

 

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1 an application has been approved under Section 10-415 that
2 contains 5 or more contiguous acres is valued at 5% of its fair
3 cash value.
4     (b) The special valuation under this Section does not apply
5 to (i) any land that has been assessed as farmland under
6 Sections 10-110 through 10-145, (ii) land valued under Section
7 10-152 or 10-153, (iii) land valued as open space under Section
8 10-155, or (iv) land certified under Section 10-167.
 
9     (35 ILCS 200/10-425 new)
10     Sec. 10-425. Certification.
11     (a) The Department of Natural Resources shall certify to
12 the Department a list of applications approved under Section
13 10-415. This list must contain the following information for
14 each approved application:
15         (1) the name and address of the taxpayer;
16         (2) the county in which the land is located;
17         (3) the size and each property index number or legal
18     description of the land that was approved; and
19         (4) copies of the taxpayer's approved conservation
20     management plan.
21     (b) Within 30 days after the receipt of this information,
22 the Department shall notify in writing the chief county
23 assessment officer of each parcel of land covered by an
24 approved conservation management plan and application. The
25 chief county assessment officer shall determine the valuation

 

 

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1 of the land as otherwise permitted by law and as required under
2 Section 10-420 of this Division, and shall list them
3 separately.
 
4     (35 ILCS 200/10-430 new)
5     Sec. 10-430. Withdrawal from special valuation.
6     (a) If any of the following events occur, then the
7 Department of Natural Resources shall withdraw all or a portion
8 of the land from special valuation:
9         (1) the Department of Natural Resources determines,
10     based on field inspections or from any other reasonable
11     evidence, that the land no longer meets the criteria under
12     this Division; or
13         (2) the failure of the taxpayer to respond to a request
14     from the Department of Natural Resources or the chief
15     county assessment officer of each county in which the
16     property is located for data regarding the use of the land
17     or other similar information pertinent to the continued
18     special valuation of the land.
19     (b) A determination by the Department of Natural Resources
20 to withdraw land from the special valuation under this Act is
21 effective on the following January 1 of the assessment year in
22 which the withdrawal occurred.
23     (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall notify the
24 chief county assessment officer and the Department in writing
25 of any land withdrawn from special valuation. Upon withdrawal,

 

 

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1 additional taxes must be calculated as provided in Section
2 10-445.
 
3     (35 ILCS 200/10-435 new)
4     Sec. 10-435. Recapture.
5     (a) If, in any taxable year that the taxpayer receives a
6 special valuation under Section 10-470, the taxpayer does not
7 comply with the conservation management plan, then the taxpayer
8 shall, by the following September 1, pay to the county
9 treasurer the difference between: (i) the taxes paid for that
10 year and; (ii) what the taxes for that year would have been
11 based on a valuation otherwise permitted by law.
12     (b) If the amount under subsection (a) is not paid by the
13 following September 1, then that amount is considered to be
14 delinquent property taxes.
15     (c) If a taxpayer who currently owns land in (i) a forestry
16 management plan under Section 10-150 or (ii) land registered or
17 encumbered by conservation rights under Section 10-166 that
18 would qualify for the tax assessment under this Division, then
19 the taxpayer may apply for reassessment under this Division and
20 shall not be penalized for doing so.
 
21     (35 ILCS 200/10-440 new)
22     Sec. 10-440. Sale or transfer of unimproved land. The sale
23 or transfer of unimproved land does not affect the valuation of
24 the land, unless there is a change in the use of the land or the

 

 

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1 acreage requirement is no longer met. Any tract of land
2 containing less than 5 acres after a sale or transfer may be
3 reclassified by the chief county assessment officer and valued
4 as otherwise permitted by law. The taxpayer and the Department
5 of Natural Resources may revise a conservation management plan
6 whenever there is a change in the ownership of the affected
7 land.
 
8     (35 ILCS 200/10-443 new)
9     Sec. 10-443. Assessment of wooded land.
10     (a) Beginning with the 2007 assessment year, except in Cook
11 County, wooded land that is owned by the taxpayer on October 1,
12 2007 must be assessed at the same level as its 2006 assessment
13 level.
14     (b) For the purpose of this Section, "wooded land" means
15 any parcel of unimproved real property that:
16         (1) does not qualify as cropland, permanent pasture,
17     other farmland, or wasteland under Section 10-125;
18         (2) is not managed under a forestry management plan and
19     considered to be other farmland under Section 10-150; and
20         (3) is not managed land under this Division.
21     (c) The assessment of the wooded land under this Section
22 continues until any assessment year in which the taxpayer sells
23 or otherwise transfers the wooded land.
 
24     (35 ILCS 200/10-445 new)

 

 

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1     Sec. 10-445. Rules. The Department of Natural Resources may
2 adopt rules to implement and administer this Act.
 
3     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4 becoming law.".