Full Text of SB0017 95th General Assembly
SB0017eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning revenue.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| 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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| (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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| (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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| (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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| (35 ILCS 200/10-443 new)
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| 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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| (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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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 |
| becoming law.
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