Farm or Ranch Land Can Be Taxed at Agricultural Value

A Milam County pasture, hay field, bee yard, or wildlife tract does not get the lower value just for looking rural. Open-space 1-D-1 appraisal is for land used mainly for agriculture, timber, wildlife management, or certain conservation uses. The land also has to show ag use in five of the past seven years.

The local filing path runs through Milam Appraisal District at 120 N Houston in Cameron. The application has to be complete and filed before May 1 for that tax year. A late application can still work if it arrives before the appraisal review board approves the records, usually in July. If accepted late, it brings a 10 percent penalty on the tax difference.

Beekeeping is allowed, but it is not a loophole for a backyard hive. Texas treats it as an ag use on 5 to 20 acres. The same current-use test still applies.

The expensive surprise is the rollback. Change qualified land to a non-ag use and the owner can owe the gap between the ag-value tax and the market-value tax for the past three years. A clean file keeps the use history, leases, receipts, maps, and application in one place.