AB681: Bill Text

1. Revises the managed forest land program to encourage private landowners to include land in the managed forest land program by allowing land to be in the program for a 15-year term.

2. Provides an appropriation to the department of natural resources (DNR) to contract with private foresters to prepare plans for inclusion of wooded land into the managed forest land program.

This bill is explained in more detail in Section notes following the relevant Sections of the bill.

AB681, s. 1 Section 1. 74.25 (1) (a) 6. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,2,4 74.25 (1) (a) 6. Pay to the county treasurer 20% of collections of occupational taxes on coal docks, 20% of collections of the taxes imposed under ss. 77.04 and 77.84 (2) (a) and (am) and all collections of payments for closed lands under s. 77.84 (2) (b).

AB681, s. 2 Section 2. 74.30 (1) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,2,8 74.30 (1) (f) Pay to the county treasurer 20% of collections of occupational taxes on coal docks, 20% of collections of the taxes imposed under ss. 77.04 and 77.84 (2) (a) and (am) and all collections of payments for closed lands under s. 77.84 (2) (b).

AB681, s. 3 Section 3. 74.30 (1) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,2,12 74.30 (1) (h) Retain for the taxation district all woodland tax law collections under s. 77.16 and 80% of collections of the taxes imposed under ss. 77.04 and 77.84 (2) (a) and (am).

AB681, s. 4 Section 4. 77.82 (2) (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,2,14 77.82 (2) (title) Petition Initial petition.

AB681, s. 5 Section 5. 77.82 (2) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,2,17 77.82 (2) (h) Whether the land will be designated as managed forest land for 15, 25 or 50 years.

AB681, s. 6 Section 6. 77.82 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,3,3 77.82 (3) (b) If the petitioner requests that the department prepare the management plan, the department shall comply with the request. The department may contract with private foresters to prepare these management plans.

AB681, s. 7 Section 7. 77.82 (12) (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,3,5 77.82 (12) (title) Renewal; extension.

AB681, s. 8 Section 8. 77.82 (12) of the statutes is renumbered 77.82 (12) (a) and amended to read:

AB681,3,14 77.82 (12) (a) The department shall notify each owner of managed forest land of the expiration date of an order no later than the January 31 preceding the expiration date. The After receiving the notification, the owner may petition the department for renewal of the order. The petition shall be filed no later than the March 31 before the expiration date and shall specify whether the owner wants the order renewed for 25 or 50 years. Any order issued under this section may only be renewed for 25 or for 50 years.

AB681,3,20 (c) The notice and hearing provisions under subs. (5) and (6) do not apply to a petition under this subsection. The department may deny the a petition under this subsection only if the land fails to meet the eligibility requirements under sub. (1), if the owner has failed to comply with the management plan or if there are delinquent taxes on the land. If the petition is denied, the department shall state the reason for the denial in writing.

AB681, s. 9 Section 9. 77.82 (12) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

AB681,4,2 77.82 (12) (b) In addition to petitioning for renewal under par. (a), an owner of land that is designated as managed forest land for a 15-year period may petition the department at any time to extend that designation to 25 or 50 years. The term of the extended designation shall run from the date that the original order designating the land for 15 years was issued.

AB681, s. 10 Section 10. 77.84 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,4,5 77.84 (2) (a) Each owner of managed forest land shall pay to the municipal treasurer an annual acreage share of 74 cents per acre on or before January 31.

AB681, s. 11 Section 11. 77.84 (2) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

AB681,4,9 77.84 (2) (am) In addition to the payment under par. (a), each owner of land designated as managed forest land for a 15-year period shall pay to the municipal treasurer an annual acreage share of $1.25 per acre.

AB681, s. 12 Section 12. 77.84 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,4,13 77.84 (2) (b) In addition to the payment under par. (a) and any payment required under par. (am), each owner of managed forest land shall annually pay $1 for each acre that is designated as closed under s. 77.83.

AB681,4,15 (bn) The payment payments required under pars. (a) to (b) shall be made to the municipal treasurer on or before January 31 of each year.

AB681, s. 13 Section 13. 77.84 (2) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,4,23 77.84 (2) (c) In 1992 and each 5th year thereafter, the department of revenue shall adjust the amounts under pars. (a), (am) and (b) by multiplying the amount specified by a ratio using as the denominator the department of revenue's estimate of the average statewide tax per acre of property classes under s. 70.32 (2) (b) 4., 1993 stats., s. 70.32 (2) (b) 5., 1993 stats., and s. 70.32 (2) (b) 6., 1993 stats., for 1986 and, as the numerator, the department of revenue's estimate of the average tax per acre for the same classes of property for the year in which the adjustment is made.

AB681, s. 14 Section 14. 77.88 (5) (a) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,5,5 77.88 (5) (a) 1. An amount equal to the product of the total net property tax rate in the municipality in the year prior to the withdrawal and the assessed value of the land for the same year, as computed by the department of revenue, multiplied by the number of years the land was designated as managed forest land, less any amounts paid by the owner under ss. 77.84 (2) (a) and (am) and 77.87.

AB681, s. 15 Section 15. 77.88 (5) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,5,9 77.88 (5) (a) 2. Five percent of the stumpage value of the merchantable timber on the land, less any amounts paid by the owner under ss. 77.84 (2) (a) and (am) and 77.87.

AB681, s. 16 Section 16. 77.88 (5) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,5,15 77.88 (5) (b) 1. An amount equal to the product of the total net property tax rate in the municipality in the year prior to the withdrawal and the assessed value of the land for the same year, as computed by the department of revenue, multiplied by the number of years since the renewal, less any amounts paid by the owner under ss. 77.84 (2) (a) and (am) and 77.87.

AB681, s. 17 Section 17. 77.88 (5) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,5,19 77.88 (5) (b) 2. Five percent of the stumpage value of the merchantable timber on the land, less any amounts paid by the owner under ss. 77.84 (2) (a) and (am) and 77.87.

AB681, s. 18 Section 18. 77.89 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB681,6,2 77.89 (2) Payment to counties. Each municipal treasurer shall pay 20% of each payment received under sub. (1) or s. 77.84 (2) (a) or (am) or 77.85 to the county treasurer and shall deposit the remainder in the municipal treasury. The payment to the county treasurer for money received before November 1 of any year shall be made on or before the November 15 after its receipt. For money received on or after November 1 of any year, the payment to the county treasurer shall be made on or before November 15 of the following year.

Note: This bill amends the managed forest land program to provide for a 15-year term for first-time designations of land under the program, commencing on January 1, 2001. Under the managed forest land program, persons owning productive forest land are provided tax incentives to manage their land in ways that promote sound forest management. Under current law, property must be designated under the managed forest land program for 25-year or 50-year periods. Land entered for 15 years may be converted to 25-year or 50-year entries at any time.

Property designated under the program is exempt from property taxation but is subject to an annual managed forest land tax of 74 cents per acre if the land is open to the public for recreational purposes and $1.74 per acre if the land is not open to the public for recreational purposes. Under the bill, an additional $1.25 per acre is added to the annual managed forest land tax for lands designated for a 15-year term. The nonstatutory provisions at the end of this bill provide that the statutory changes related to the 15-year term take effect on January 1, 2001.

AB681, s. 19 Section 19 . Appropriation changes.

AB681,6,9 (1) In the schedule under section 20.005 (3) of the statutes for the appropriation to the department of natural resources under section 20.370 (1) (mu) of the statutes, as affected by the acts of 1999, the dollar amount is increased by $300,000 for fiscal year 1999-00 and the dollar amount is increased by $300,000 for fiscal year 2000-01 to contract with private foresters to prepare management plans for the designation of land under the managed forest land program.

Note: This appropriation, from the forestry account of the conservation fund, allows the DNR to hire private forestry consultants, on a contract basis, to prepare the necessary management plans for designation of land under the managed forest land program.

AB681, s. 20 Section 20. Effective dates. This act takes effect on January 1, 2001, except as follows:

AB681,6,12 (1) The treatment of section 77.82 (3) (b) of the statutes takes effect on the day after publication.

AB681,6,13 (End)