Any Texas landowners doing the Wildlife Tax Exemption program? It's similiar to an Agricultural Tax Exemption.

Works very much like Ag exemption.

good info:

http://www.noble.org/Ag/Wildlife/TaxExempt/

http://www.noble.org/Ag/Wildlife/TaxClassification/

http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1618.pdf

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/la...e/agricultural_land/


COMMERCIAL SITES:

http://www.preservationtexas.com/

http://www.wildlifeexemption.com/

http://www.texaswildlifemanage...0Tax%20Exemption.htm

DuggaBoye
Thanks! I'll check them out.

Any personal experience with this?

I'm guessing to local ain't gonna be happy about this.

4 different counties over past several years

& Not a peep out of the local tax assessors

Duggaboye,
You have a PM.

Found out I CANNOT go from no exemption to Wildlife Exemption. I COULD have gone from AG Exempt (land was ag exempt when I bought it) to wildlife exempt when the ag exempt was taken away, but I didn't know about such a thing back then.
I can go to an Ecological Laboratory (same as AG on have to wait 2 years, then on 3rd year I go to Wildlife Exempt)
Anyone done Ecological Laboratory? I've only found one outfit to do it and they seem to want way too much money to get start. It would be cheaper in the long haul but I'm thinking there is someone out there who could do it cheaper.

Sorry , have been gone.

Never ran into that issue, had exemptions before from ag or timber
.

I truly know nothing of the Ecological lab aspect or the costs involved-- actually had not heard of it--guess it was not around when I was getting into yhe program.

Beware, one tricky thing about "ag wildlife",
you must have a plan, a good biologist and all the benefit must be for the land and native species. Detailed reports every year with lots of pictures. If ANY exotics are involved your county may not allow the exemption.
Alternative, put cattle in some form back on the land for 5 years and make a report to the tax office every year, you may get back your ag exempt cheaper than going the Ecology route.
Go see the Chief Appraiser in your county and learn your alternatives. In some counties he has the "Power of the Pope" Now that you gave it up it won't be cheap to get it back.

Tetonka
DRSS

If you know a reliable rancher let him lease it and run live stock on it. You get a little lease money and the ag exemption without buying and baby sitting a bunch of stinking cattle.

I have a wildlife exemption on my ranch in Kerr County.

Cattle or goats /sheep may be an easier way to go.....
In one county west of SA there are very few ag exemptions granted. Each year you have to do 5 or 6 out of 8 wildlife improvements each year to maintain your exemption.
Such as - protien feeding, watering, strip mowing, hog abatement (trapping), harvest logs with weights and measurements.... while keeping cattle off the land.
The biologist that we used was not worth the charge and were trying to sell other services.
No one checks you out but if you don't have documentation then you might be liable for all the years you claimed the exemption if they do check you.

Most land owners are doing some of the requirements already.

Im rather fond of buying and selling stinking cattle, been doing it for years, beats sitting on your stinking ass and growing old...

Ray, I have had some transplants come down here + smell the byproduct of the south end + bitch about the smell. My rejoinder has always been the same, "Ma'm to me it smells like money."

I got involved through my daughter-in- law in her wanting to raise bees on these 15 acres + I was all about an ag. exemption. That turned out to be a can of worms that I am still fighting about. Step daughter divorces, moves, + now no filing on bee business, etc. Me ,left holding the tax bag, ad nauseum. Like everything else, it will work out, but it's a bitch until it does.

I embarked on a plan on the property I own in E. Texas probably 20 years ago.
I did have a biologist come out and provide an evaluation on what would be productive to support the wildlife. He additionally took a soil samples to determine any supplements to the soil to add in support of vegetation that is attractive to wildlife.
I think he returned once more to see how the program was moving. These guys are pretty thin so it may take some time to have them come to your property.
Every year by July 31st I have to submit a Texas Parks and wildlife form 1-D-1 Open spaces agricultural valuation wildlife management annual report for the past year.
The requirements are pretty simple if you have a piece of equipment such as a tractor and some implements.
Shelter breaks, Wildlife counts, predator control, water, erosion control, supplemental food.
A lot of options to cherry pick from. I think about 3 out 7 options.
Helps if you provide pictures of your efforts with the form. If you are feeding specific game, provide the receipts for the food or seed planting. Any fuel for your equipment.
Takes me less than an hour each year to complete this form and submit to the county tax office.
Never a rebutal.
My annual taxes are less than $400 on a few hundred acres in my county.

EZ

I, like Rusty, have a wildlife exemption on my little place in Kerr county Texas. Take pics of water for wildlife improvements, keep receipts for bird feed etc etc but well worth the trouble. I have never had agr exempt but had no difficulty several years ago in getting the wildlife exempt.

What is the acreage requirement? Will 10 acres suffice; my son is thinking of selling his 5 acres next door because he has been offered $500,000.00. Land prices here in the hill country have been going insane.