The deadline to submit an agricultural special use valuation application is April 30^th of the tax year for which you are applying.

You can find the application for 1-d agricultural use at 50-165.pdf

You can find the application for 1-D-1 (Open Space) at 50-129.pdf

You can submit the application in person or send it in the mail to 2801 B.F. Terry Blvd., Rosenberg, TX 77471

You can also submit it by email to info@fbcad.org

If you have any questions, please review the Agricultural FAQs or the Agricultural Appraisal Guidelines at Agricultural Appraisal – Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (fbcad.org).

1-D-1 (Open Space) agricultural use appraisal is a special use valuation for property that produces an agricultural product. It is not an exemption.

A property owner must complete an application and it must be approved for the property owner to enjoy agricultural appraisal of their property.

A property’s primary use must be a qualifying agricultural use to qualify for agricultural appraisal.

The property must be used in a qualifying agricultural use to the degree of intensity set by the district.

For first time applicants, the property must be used as agriculture in 5 of the previous 7 years prior to the application.

You must provide proof of this use.

If the tract of land you are applying for is leased, you must include a copy of the lease. If there is a verbal lease, you must provide a notarized affidavit, signed by you (the lessee), verifying the terms of the lease.

Qualifying use can include, but is not limited to, row crops, Irrigated crops such as rice, pasture lands, orchards, beekeeping, etc.

You can view a copy of the agricultural appraisal guidelines under forms on our website at AG Guidelines

The land for which a property owner wants agricultural appraisal must be devoted principally to an agricultural use. If the land is used for more than one purpose, the most important and primary use must be agriculture.

Each agricultural use may have different minimum acreage requirements. These requirements are addressed in the agricultural appraisal guidelines. You can view these at AG Guidelines

If a property has ever received agricultural appraisal, then it will always be eligible for a “rollback” when the use of the property changes from agricultural use to some other use.

No, agricultural appraisal is an appraisal of land only.

All structures (barns, sheds, residences, stables, buildings, etc.) on agricultural use land will be appraised at market value.

To calculate productivity vales, we calculate the typical owner’s income generated by the land and subtract certain expenses.

The resulting amount is known as the net-to-land.

We divide the average net-to-land for a five-year period, by the annual cap rate, to determine the land’s productivity value.

The five-year period is the five years that occurred two years prior to the appraisal year.

For example, the five years used for 2021 productivity values were 2015 to 2019.

Only properties that are currently being appraised as agricultural lands or timberlands under 1-D-1 open space may be converted to appraisal based on wildlife management.

The land must be actively used to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering population of indigenous wild animals for human use. Human use includes food, medicine, or recreation.

The land must be used in at least three different ways to achieve this goal.

The ways that land can be used to propagate wild animals for human use are: habitat control; erosion control; predator control; providing supplemental supplies of water or food; providing shelters; and making census counts to determine population.

It is a group of native (indigenous) wild animals that moves between seasonal ranges.

Instructions are on our website at How To Complete An AG Application

Instructions are on our website at How To Complete An AG Application

Applications are due by April 30th of the tax year for which you are applying.

Applications received May 1st will be assessed a penalty if the application is approved.

The penalty is equal to 10% of the savings resulting from the agricultural appraisal.

All applications received after the approval of the appraisal records by the ARB, which is typically mid-July, will be denied.

Yes, you need to complete it.

The Chief Appraiser may ask for an updated application at any time.

If you received an application by mail, it should be completed if you want to have agricultural appraisal on your property.

When property ownership changes or a change to or on a property occurs, an application addressing the change must be filed with the appraisal district to receive agricultural appraisal for the property without a penalty being assessed.

A rollback is initiated when the land use for an account with agricultural use appraisal is changed to non-agricultural use.

A lack of use is considered a change of use. Texas Tax Code Section 23.55 (a) allows a penalty for taking land out of agricultural production.

This penalty is called a “rollback tax”.

The rollback in not negotiable.

It is called a rollback tax because it recovers the taxes the property owner would have paid if the land had been taxed at its market value instead of at the lower agricultural use appraisal.

FBCAD does not handles sales tax, sales tax IDs, or Texas agricultural sale and use tax exemptions.

Visit https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/ag-timber/ to get a Texas Agricultural and Timber Registration number and to learn more about agriculture and timber exemptions from certain taxes when purchasing items.

Yes, you can.

FBCAD’s Land Department offers one-one-one assistance sessions with a Land Appraiser.

You can schedule a session online by visiting AG Application Assistance

Property owners must apply annually for 1-D.

For 1-D-1 agricultural appraisal property owners are only required to reapply when a property changes ownership, changes eligibility to receive the special appraisal, or if the Chief Appraiser requires a new application.

For 1-D the property owner must be an individual.

For 1-D-1 a business or individual may qualify.

For 1-D, agriculture must be the property owner’s primary occupation and source of income; the property owner must show that they conduct agriculture for profit.

For 1-D-1, there are no occupation, income, or profit requirements; instead, we look at whether the land is used to the degree of intensity typical in the area for a particular agricultural operation.

For 1-D, the three years immediately preceding the qualification for 1-D must have been devoted principally to qualifying ag use or timber production.

For 1-D-1, it must be five of the preceding seven years.

It is a native animal that originated in or naturally migrated through an area, and that is living naturally in that area.

This is opposed to an exotic animal or one that has been introduced to an area.

You can contact the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at 512-389-4800 to determine if an animal in considered indigenous to Texas.

The use of animals for food and medicine is self-explanatory.

These uses result in a product and require active participation.

Recreational use can be active or passive and may include any type of use that is for pleasure or sport.

This includes bird watching, hiking, hunting, photography, and other active recreational or hobby-type activities.

The property owner’s passive enjoyment in owning the land and managing it for wildlife is a qualifying recreational use.

Information can be found on our website at AG Appraisal

The property must be qualified for 1-D-1 Open Agricultural Use Appraisal prior to being converted to Wildlife Management Appraisal.

An application for conversion to Wildlife Management Appraisal is required.

Property owners must include a Wildlife Management plan written by a biologist with their application.

Property owners must adhere to the plan and file a yearly report with the appraisal district.

A property owner must complete a new application applying for the different agricultural use.

The property owner needs to inform the appraisal district of any change of use before April 30th of the tax year in which the change occurs.

If you do not do so by April 30th, a penalty will be assessed.

Review the application for completeness.

Make sure all the fields on the application are completed and that the application is signed.

If the property is subject to a lease, attach a copy of the lease to the application.

If the property does not meet minimum acreage requirements for the agricultural use, include the account numbers of additional property you own or are using for the same agricultural use, in order to fulfill the minimum acreage requirement.

Yes, you may upload your application through our website.

Select the E-Services tab, and then select Land & Residential Inventory.

The form that appears will ask your name, email, and phone number.

Then you can attach the application and the supporting documents.

You can attach more than one document at a time.

You can also fill out the comments section with what documents you are sending.

No, you cannot. You can use property in another county if the property is split between the two adjacent counties.

The amount of the rollback tax is equal to the difference between the taxes that were assessed on the property for the three years preceding the year in which the change of use occurred, and the taxes that would have been assessed if market value had been used.

Interest at an annual rate of 5% is added to the rollback amount.

The interest is calculated from the date on which the taxes based on market value would have been due.

You can fill out an ag rollback estimate request.

Please email info@fbcad.org to get the form.

Then fill it out and mail it to 2801 B. F. Terry Blvd., Rosenberg, TX 77471 or email it to info@fbcad.org.

The estimate takes time to process, it cannot be generated immediately or on demand.

Degree of Intensity is a measurement of what a property owner contributes to their agricultural operation (time, labor, capital equipment, etc.) compared to what a typical property owner contributes to the same type of agricultural operation.

For example, the degree of intensity can be the number of livestock or types of agricultural activities that a typical, prudent producer would have on similar sized land or in a similar sized operation.

The degree of intensity guidelines can be found at AG Guidelines

The capitalization rate (cap rate) is one of may factors used by appraisal districts to value agricultural land and timberland.

Texas Tax Code Sections 23.53 and 23.74 prescribe the methods for determining the cap rate.

The cap rate for 2022 is 10% for appraising agricultural or open-space land, and 6.85% for appraising timberland.

It is a group of native (indigenous) wild animals that is large enough to live independently over several generations.

This definition implies that the population will not die out because it will produce enough animals to continue as a group.

It is a group of native (indigenous) wild animals living on its winter range.