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1 | AN ACT concerning revenue.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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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.
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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 | ||||||
16 | social well-being of the State and its citizens. | ||||||
17 | The General Assembly further finds that, to maximize | ||||||
18 | voluntary taxpayer participation in conservation programs, | ||||||
19 | conservation should be recognized as a legitimate land use and | ||||||
20 | taxpayers should have a full range of incentive programs from | ||||||
21 | which to choose. | ||||||
22 | Therefore, the General Assembly declares that it is in the |
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1 | public interest to prevent the forced conversion of unimproved | ||||||
2 | land to more intensive uses as a result of economic pressures | ||||||
3 | caused by the property tax system at values incompatible with | ||||||
4 | their preservation and management as unimproved land, and that | ||||||
5 | a program should be designed to permit the continued | ||||||
6 | availability of this land for these purposes. | ||||||
7 | The General Assembly further declares that the following | ||||||
8 | provisions are intended to allow for the conservation, | ||||||
9 | management, and assessment of unimproved land generally | ||||||
10 | suitable for the perpetual growth and preservation of such land | ||||||
11 | in this State. | ||||||
12 | (35 ILCS 200/10-405 new) | ||||||
13 | Sec. 10-405. Definitions. As used in this Division: | ||||||
14 | "Unimproved land" means woodlands, prairie, wetlands, or | ||||||
15 | other vacant and undeveloped land that is not used for any | ||||||
16 | residential or commercial purpose that materially disturbs the | ||||||
17 | land. | ||||||
18 | "Conservation management plan" means a plan approved by the | ||||||
19 | Department of Natural Resources that specifies conservation | ||||||
20 | and management practices, including uses that will be conducted | ||||||
21 | to preserve and restore unimproved land. | ||||||
22 | "Managed land" means unimproved land of 5 acres or more | ||||||
23 | that is subject to a conservation management plan. | ||||||
24 | (35 ILCS 200/10-410 new) |
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1 | Sec. 10-410. Conservation management plan; rules. The | ||||||
2 | Department of Natural Resources shall adopt rules specifying | ||||||
3 | the form and content of a conservation management plan | ||||||
4 | sufficient for managed land to be valued under this Division. | ||||||
5 | The rules adopted under this Section must require a description | ||||||
6 | of the managed land and must specify the conservation and | ||||||
7 | management practices that are appropriate to preserve and | ||||||
8 | maintain unimproved land in this State and any other | ||||||
9 | conservation practices. | ||||||
10 | (35 ILCS 200/10-415 new) | ||||||
11 | Sec. 10-415. Plan submission and review; approval. | ||||||
12 | (a)
A taxpayer requesting special valuation of unimproved | ||||||
13 | land under this Division must first submit a conservation | ||||||
14 | management plan for that land to the Department of Natural | ||||||
15 | Resources for review. The Department of Natural Resources shall | ||||||
16 | review each submitted plan for compliance with the standards | ||||||
17 | and criteria set forth in its rules. | ||||||
18 | (b) Upon approval, the Department of Natural Resources | ||||||
19 | shall issue to the taxpayer a written declaration that the land | ||||||
20 | is subject to a conservation management plan approved by the | ||||||
21 | Department of Natural Resources. | ||||||
22 | (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall reapprove the | ||||||
23 | plan every 10 years and revise it when necessary or | ||||||
24 | appropriate. | ||||||
25 | (d) If a plan is not approved, then the Department of |
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1 | Natural Resources shall state the reasons for the denial and | ||||||
2 | provide the taxpayer an opportunity to amend the plan to | ||||||
3 | conform to the requirements of this Division. If the | ||||||
4 | application is denied a second time, the taxpayer may appeal | ||||||
5 | the decision to an independent 3-member panel to be established | ||||||
6 | within the Department of Natural Resources.
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7 | (e) The submission of an application for a conservation | ||||||
8 | management plan under this Section or of a forestry management | ||||||
9 | plan under Section 10-150 shall be treated as compliance with | ||||||
10 | the requirements of that plan until the Department of Natural | ||||||
11 | Resources can review the application. The Department of Natural | ||||||
12 | Resources shall certify, to the Department, these applications | ||||||
13 | as being approved plans for the purpose of this Division.
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14 | (35 ILCS 200/10-420 new) | ||||||
15 | Sec. 10-420. Special valuation of managed land; | ||||||
16 | exceptions. | ||||||
17 | (a)
In all counties, except for Cook County, beginning with | ||||||
18 | assessments made in 2008 and thereafter, managed land for which | ||||||
19 | an application has been approved under Section 10-415 that | ||||||
20 | contains 5 or more contiguous acres is valued at 5% of its fair | ||||||
21 | cash value. | ||||||
22 | (b) The special valuation under this Section does not apply | ||||||
23 | to (i) any land that has been assessed as farmland under | ||||||
24 | Sections 10-110 through 10-145, (ii) land valued under Section | ||||||
25 | 10-152 or 10-153, (iii) land valued as open space under Section |
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1 | 10-155, or (iv) land certified under Section 10-167. | ||||||
2 | (35 ILCS 200/10-425 new) | ||||||
3 | Sec. 10-425. Certification. | ||||||
4 | (a)
The Department of Natural Resources shall certify to | ||||||
5 | the Department a list of applications approved under Section | ||||||
6 | 10-415. This list must contain the following information for | ||||||
7 | each approved application: | ||||||
8 | (1) the name and address of the taxpayer; | ||||||
9 | (2) the county in which the land is located; | ||||||
10 | (3) the size and each property index number or legal | ||||||
11 | description of the land that was approved; and | ||||||
12 | (4) copies of the taxpayer's approved conservation | ||||||
13 | management plan. | ||||||
14 | (b) Within 30 days after the receipt of this information, | ||||||
15 | the Department shall notify in writing the chief county | ||||||
16 | assessment officer of each parcel of land covered by an | ||||||
17 | approved conservation management plan and application. The | ||||||
18 | chief county assessment officer shall determine the valuation | ||||||
19 | of the land as otherwise permitted by law and as required under | ||||||
20 | Section 10-420 of this Division, and shall list them | ||||||
21 | separately. | ||||||
22 | (35 ILCS 200/10-430 new) | ||||||
23 | Sec. 10-430. Withdrawal from special valuation. | ||||||
24 | (a) If any of the following events occur, then the |
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1 | Department of Natural Resources shall withdraw all or a portion | ||||||
2 | of the land from special valuation: | ||||||
3 | (1) the Department of Natural Resources determines, | ||||||
4 | based on field inspections or from any other reasonable | ||||||
5 | evidence, that the land no longer meets the criteria under | ||||||
6 | this Division; or | ||||||
7 | (2) the failure of the taxpayer to respond to a request | ||||||
8 | from the Department of Natural Resources or the chief | ||||||
9 | county assessment officer of each county in which the | ||||||
10 | property is located for data regarding the use of the land | ||||||
11 | or other similar information pertinent to the continued | ||||||
12 | special valuation of the land. | ||||||
13 | (b) A determination by the Department of Natural Resources | ||||||
14 | to withdraw land from the special valuation under this Act is | ||||||
15 | effective on the following January 1 of the assessment year in | ||||||
16 | which the withdrawal occurred. | ||||||
17 | (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall notify the | ||||||
18 | chief county assessment officer and the Department in writing | ||||||
19 | of any land withdrawn from special valuation. Upon withdrawal, | ||||||
20 | additional taxes must be calculated as provided in Section | ||||||
21 | 10-445. | ||||||
22 | (35 ILCS 200/10-435 new) | ||||||
23 | Sec. 10-435. Recapture. | ||||||
24 | (a) If, in any taxable year that the taxpayer receives a | ||||||
25 | special valuation under Section 10-470, the taxpayer does not |
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1 | comply with the conservation management plan, then the taxpayer | ||||||
2 | shall, by the following September 1, pay to the county | ||||||
3 | treasurer the difference between: (i) the taxes paid for that | ||||||
4 | year and; (ii) what the taxes for that year would have been | ||||||
5 | based on a valuation otherwise permitted by law. | ||||||
6 | (b) If the amount under subsection (a) is not paid by the | ||||||
7 | following September 1, then that amount is considered to be | ||||||
8 | delinquent property taxes. | ||||||
9 | (c) If a taxpayer who currently owns land in (i) a forestry | ||||||
10 | management plan under Section 10-150 or (ii) land registered or | ||||||
11 | encumbered by conservation rights under Section 10-166 that | ||||||
12 | would qualify for the tax assessment under this Division, then | ||||||
13 | the taxpayer may apply for reassessment under this Division and | ||||||
14 | shall not be penalized for doing so. | ||||||
15 | (35 ILCS 200/10-440 new) | ||||||
16 | Sec. 10-440. Sale or transfer of unimproved land. The sale | ||||||
17 | or transfer of unimproved land does not affect the valuation of | ||||||
18 | the land, unless there is a change in the use of the land or the | ||||||
19 | acreage requirement is no longer met. Any tract of land | ||||||
20 | containing less than 5 acres after a sale or transfer may be | ||||||
21 | reclassified by the chief county assessment officer and valued | ||||||
22 | as otherwise permitted by law.
The taxpayer and the Department | ||||||
23 | of Natural Resources may revise a conservation management plan | ||||||
24 | whenever there is a change in the ownership of the affected | ||||||
25 | land. |
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1 | (35 ILCS 200/10-443 new)
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2 | Sec. 10-443. Assessment of wooded land. | ||||||
3 | (a) Beginning with the 2007 assessment year, except in Cook | ||||||
4 | County, wooded land that is owned by the taxpayer on October 1, | ||||||
5 | 2007 must be assessed at the same level as its 2006 assessment | ||||||
6 | level. | ||||||
7 | (b) For the purpose of this Section, "wooded land" means | ||||||
8 | any parcel of unimproved real property that: | ||||||
9 | (1) does not qualify as cropland, permanent pasture, | ||||||
10 | other farmland, or wasteland under Section 10-125; | ||||||
11 | (2) is not managed under a forestry management plan and | ||||||
12 | considered to be other farmland under Section 10-150; and | ||||||
13 | (3) is not managed land under this Division. | ||||||
14 | (c) The assessment of the wooded land under this Section | ||||||
15 | continues until any assessment year in which the taxpayer sells | ||||||
16 | or otherwise transfers the wooded land.
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17 | (35 ILCS 200/10-445 new) | ||||||
18 | Sec. 10-445. Rules. The Department of Natural Resources may | ||||||
19 | adopt rules to implement and administer this Act.
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20 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
21 | becoming law.
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