LRB-4902/1
MGG:rs&kmg:pg
2001 - 2002 LEGISLATURE
February 26, 2002 - Introduced by Representatives Ainsworth, Albers, Freese,
Gunderson, Musser, Olsen, Owens, Petrowski, Pettis, Sykora and
Townsend, cosponsored by Senator Harsdorf. Referred to Committee on
Rural Affairs and Forestry.
AB864,1,3
1An Act to amend 77.82 (4m) (c) of the statutes;
relating to: the conversion of
2lands that are entered on the tax roll as forest croplands to lands that are
3entered on the tax roll as managed forest lands.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Certain lands are designated as forest croplands under a program
administered by the department of natural resources (DNR). Under this program,
the owner of the designated land makes an annual payment per acre that is
designated instead of the property taxes that would normally be payable. In
exchange, the owner must comply with certain forestry practices and must allow
hunting and fishing on all of the designated land. Beginning on January 1, 1986,
DNR has not been able to designate any additional land as forest cropland.
Under a similar program that has been in effect after December 31, 1985, DNR
may designate certain land as managed forest land. Under this program, the owner
may close part of the land to public use such as hunting and fishing. The owner
makes a higher annual payment on the acres that are closed than on the acres that
are open. Both programs impose a withdrawal tax if the designated land is
withdrawn before the period of the designation expires.
Before, January 1, 1998, an owner of forest croplands was able to file a petition
with DNR to convert the land to managed forest land. The land to be converted had
to be in a single town or village, and the petition had to include all forest croplands
owned by the petitioner in that town or village. The owner had to submit the petition
after September 1, 1994, and before January 1, 1998.
Current law prohibits the imposition of withdrawal taxes for the conversion of
these forest croplands to managed forest lands. However, under current law, for
converted land that is withdrawn from the managed forest land program within ten
years after its being converted, the withdrawal tax is the higher of the following: 1)
the withdrawal tax that would have been imposed on the land under the forest
cropland program at the time of the conversion; or 2) the withdrawal tax calculated
under the formula used for managed forest lands that have not been converted.
The bill again allows an owner of forest croplands to file a petition to convert
forest croplands into managed forest lands. The petition must be filed after the date
when this bill becomes law and before January 1, 2006. The same location and
ownership requirements and the same provisions concerning the imposition and
calculation of withdrawal taxes that apply to forest croplands subject to the earlier
conversion process apply to forest croplands for which a petition is filed as authorized
under this bill.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB864, s. 1
1Section
1. 77.82 (4m) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB864,2,42
77.82
(4m) (c) A petition under this subsection must be submitted after
3September 1, 1994, and before January 1, 1998
, or after the effective date of this
4paragraph ..... [revisor inserts date], and before January 1, 2006.
