WILDLIFE AND YOUR PROPERTY TAXES

Everything is bigger in Texas, including property taxes. As tax bills make their way into our mailboxes, many of us are getting a big reminder. But while we may have one of the highest property tax rates in the country, Texas also provides rural landowners with alternative tax valuation incentives such as Wildlife Management Valuation (Wildlife) to significantly reduce those tax burdens.

To move into Wildlife status, your property must currently have an Agricultural Tax Valuation (Ag). While Wildlife is a tax valuation that is exactly the same as your Ag status (so why even switch?), it provides landowners more options for managing their land. It eliminates the need for fencing, veterinary, crop harvesting and other expenses associated with farming or ranching. It also reduces your liability potential…if your livestock get loose you’re liable, if wildlife are loose, they’re supposed to be! For those who bought land for recreation or an investment, or those no longer able or desiring to ranch or farm, Wildlife is a cost efficient means of maintaining a favorable tax valuation.

What Does It Mean To “Manage” For Wildlife?

The Texas Property Tax Code says Wildlife Management means “actively using land…to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering population of indigenous [native] wild animals for human use, including food, medicine, or recreation…”. While many folks think of deer, you can also manage your land for many other types of native wildlife including, but certainly not limited to, birds, horned lizards, and even butterflies.

To maintain your Wildlife status, the law requires you engage in minimum number of activities to help ensure you really are making your  land a habitat for your designated wildlife, but, truth be told, many of these activities feel more fun and educational than chore-like, such as the winter and resident bird surveys many current Wildlife landowners are conducting now.

Finally, Wildlife is not limited to big property owners. If you live on smaller acreage you still qualify as long as you currently have an agriculture valuation. 

Copyright 2009 Plateau Land & Wildlife Management