| AG Advisory Board Members |
|---|
| Mary Schroeder – Chairman |
| Randall Jacobs |
| Michael Hanslik |
An Introduction to the Agricultural Appraisal Advisory Board
Effective August 28, 1989, Sec. 6.12, Property Tax Code, requires chief appraisers to appoint an agricultural appraisal advisory board. The legislature created this advisory board to help improve communications between the farming and ranching community and the appraisal district.
The Agricultural Advisory Board’s Duties
Under the Property Tax Code, the board’s function is to advise the chief appraiser on major issues dealing with agricultural and timber appraisal-net to land, degree of intensity standards, and other agricultural use and appraisal issues.[I]
As an advisory body, the board has no decision making authority or responsibility. The chief appraiser and the appraisal review board have statutory and legal responsibility to set values and make decisions on qualification for agricultural appraisal-this responsibility cannot legally be delegated to any other group or person not directly under the chief appraiser’s authority. The agricultural advisory board should not become involved in matters dealing with individual properties or in approving applications for agricultural appraisal.
The following is a discussion of some of the areas in which the board may advise or assist the chief appraiser. For more detailed information about productivity appraisal, consult the Manual for the Appraisal of Agricultural Land and Guidelines for the Valuation of Timberlands, available from the State Property Tax Board.
Sec. 6.12. AGRICULTURAL APPRAISAL ADVISORY BOARD. (a) The chief appraiser of each appraisal district shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the board of directors, an agricultural advisory board composed of three or more members as determined by the board.
(b) The agricultural advisory board members must be landowners of the district whose land qualifies for appraisal under Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter 23, and who have been residents of the district for at least five years.
( c) Members of the board serve for staggered terms of two years. In making the initial appointments of members of the agricultural advisory board the chief appraiser shall appoint for a term of one year one-half of the members, or if the number of members is an odd number, one fewer than a majority of the membership.
(d) The board shall meet at the call of the chief appraiser at least once a year.
(e) An employee or officer of an appraisal district may not be appointed and may not serve as a member of the agricultural advisory board.
(f) A member of the agricultural advisory board is not entitled to compensation.
(g) The board shall advise the chief appraiser on the valuation and use of land that may be designated for agricultural use or that may be open space agricultural or timber land within the district.