Agriculture Land Use Forms

NOTICE TO ALL AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY OWNERS

The 1994 legislature change the reporting requirement for agricultural property owners by passing Senate Bill #1087 which becomes effective for tax year 1995. This notice is intended to explain the change and inform agricultural property owners of how legislation affects their responsibilities.

Initially, the County Assessors will no longer be mailing "Agricultural Land Use Forms" to qualifying agricultural property owners as has been done in the past years. The application does not have to be filed to maintain the agricultural use for tax year 1995 if a completed application was filed with the Assessor before September 17, 1993 for the 1994 tax year. In other words if you were approved for agricultural use in 1994, the use will continue for 1995 and subsequent tax years if the property continues to meet the agricultural qualification per ARS. §42-167 unless either of the following condition has occurred since you last filed:

1. If all or part of the property ceases to be used for agricultural purposes, the owner at the time of change shall notify the assessor within 60 days of the change, or,

2. If the owner of a property change, and agricultural use application form must be filed by the new owner within 60 days of the change in ownership to maintain the agricultural use status.

NOTE: If an owner of property or the owner's designated agent intentionally provides false information on an application form or fails to provide the notification required above, the property shall immediately be classified as being used for non-agricultural use and shall be valued at its non-agricultural full cash value. The owner will also be liable for the additional taxes based on the non-agricultural value of the property for all the tax years in which the property was classified based on the false information together with a penalty equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the additional taxes.

AGRICULTURAL LEASE AFFIDAVIT

Pursuant to Arizona Revised Statute §42-1615, agricultural property owners who lease land for a period in excess of 90 days are required by law to provide the lease information to the County Assessor on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue. The affidavit must be filed by the owner annually on or before September 16th.

The information abstracted from the leases is used by the Assessor to establish the value of all agricultural classified property within each county. In order to value agricultural property in an accurate and fair manner, it is very important that all agricultural property owner comply with this requirement and provide a copy of the lease along with the completed Agricultural Lease Form.

NOTE: In accordance with ARS §42-1615 (B); "Any person who knowingly fails to file or knowingly falsifies the Agricultural Affidavit required by this section is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."

AGRICULTURAL LAND USE FORMS AND AGRICULTURAL LEASE FORMS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE COUNTY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE.

If you have any questions on any part of your reporting requirements or questions regarding the changes in the above-mention statutes, call the County Assessor's Office or Property Tax Division of the Department of Revenue.