An owner can keep agricultural-use designation during a tick quarantine if the land otherwise qualifies, but must notify the chief appraiser within 30 days when the land is designated and again when it is released from quarantine.
Sec. 23.426. TEMPORARY CESSATION OF AGRICULTURAL USE DUE TO QUARANTINE FOR TICKS. (a) The entitlement of an individual to have land the individual owns designated for agricultural use under this subchapter does not end because the individual ceases exclusively or continuously using the land for agriculture as an occupation or a business venture for profit for the period prescribed by Subsection (b) if the land: (1) is subject to a temporary quarantine established at any time during the tax year by the Texas Animal Health Commission for the purpose of regulating the handling of livestock and eradicating ticks or exposure to ticks under Chapter 167, Agriculture Code; and (2) otherwise continues to qualify for the designation under Section 23.42. (b) Subsection (a) applies to land eligible for appraisal under this subchapter only during the period that begins on the date the land is designated as a tick eradication area and that ends on the date the land is released from quarantine by the Texas Animal Health Commission. (c) The owner of land to which this section applies must, not later than the 30th day after the date the land is designated as a tick eradication area, notify in writing the chief appraiser for each appraisal district in which the land is located that the land is located in a tick eradication area. (d) The owner of land to which this section applies must, not later than the 30th day after the date the land is released from quarantine by the Texas Animal Health Commission, notify in writing the chief appraiser for each appraisal district in which the land is located that the land has been released from quarantine by the Texas Animal Health Commission. Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 101 (H.B. 3348), Sec. 1, eff. May 21, 2019.