Revenue and taxation; increase maximum acreage to qualify for assessment and taxation as a bona fide conservation use property

More acres get conservation-use tax savings

The law raises the cap for current-use property tax on conservation land from 2,000 to 4,000 acres per person. A family-owned farm entity can allocate acreage by each owner’s percent interest, but any one person is limited to 4,000 acres statewide. Environmentally sensitive land can qualify up to 4,000 acres if the Department of Natural Resources certifies it and the land’s main use is keeping it natural or controlling water pollution. Improvements are excluded for that category. An owner may sign more than one covenant, even across counties, as long as total acres under covenant stay at or below 4,000. An owner may also place the home on that land in a residential transitional-use covenant at the same time, if both sets of rules are met, and may enter other qualified property for residential transitional use. County officials and the state keep a central registry to enforce the 4,000-acre limit; covenants are public records and the tax digest lists this class separately. The law takes effect January 1, 2027 only if voters approve a related constitutional amendment at the November 2026 statewide election; otherwise it does not take effect and is repealed January 1, 2027. If it takes effect, any conflicting laws are repealed.