Full Text of SB0017 95th General Assembly
SB0017sam003 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. John M. Sullivan
Filed: 5/23/2007
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 17
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 17 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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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 |
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| 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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| 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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| 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 review the | 5 |
| plan annually for compliance and shall reapprove the plan every | 6 |
| 10 years and revise it when necessary or 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.
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| (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.
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| (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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| 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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| 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 for data regarding | 15 |
| the use of the land or other similar information pertinent | 16 |
| to the continued special valuation of the land. | 17 |
| (b) A determination by the Department of Natural Resources | 18 |
| to withdraw land from the special valuation under this Act is | 19 |
| effective on the following January 1 of the assessment year in | 20 |
| which the withdrawal occurred. | 21 |
| (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall notify the | 22 |
| chief county assessment officer and the Department in writing | 23 |
| of any land withdrawn from special valuation. Upon withdrawal, | 24 |
| additional taxes must be calculated as provided in Section | 25 |
| 10-445. |
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| (35 ILCS 200/10-435 new) | 2 |
| Sec. 10-435. Penalty. | 3 |
| (a) If the taxpayer does not comply with the conservation | 4 |
| management plan during any period in which the taxpayer | 5 |
| receives the special valuation, then the taxpayer shall, by the | 6 |
| following September 1, pay to the county treasurer the | 7 |
| difference between: (i) the taxes paid for the years the | 8 |
| special valuation has been in effect based on the valuation | 9 |
| under Section 10-420 and; (ii) what the taxes for those years | 10 |
| would have been based on a valuation otherwise permitted by | 11 |
| 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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| 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 200/10-445 new) | 9 |
| Sec. 10-445. Rules. The Department of Natural Resources may | 10 |
| adopt rules to implement and administer this Act.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 12 |
| becoming law.".
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