Nevada

Property Classification:

The state of Nevada does not assign property to different classes for purposes of applying different assessment ratios or tax rates. The only special class of property recognized in Nevada is agricultural and open-space real property, which is valued on the basis of its actual use.

Agricultural real property (Sec. 361A.020)

Agricultural real property means:

(a) Land devoted exclusively for at least 3 consecutive years immediately preceding the assessment date to "agricultural use."

(b) Land leased by the owner to another person for agricultural use and composed of any lot or parcel which:

1. Includes at least 7 acres of land devoted to accepted agricultural practices; or

2. Is contiguous to other agricultural real property owned by the lessee.

(c) Land covered by a residence or necessary to support the residence if it is part of a qualified agricultural parcel.

Agricultural use (Sec. 361A.030)

Agricultural use means the "current employment" of real property as a business venture for profit, which business produced a minimum gross income of $5,000 from agricultural pursuits during the immediately preceding calendar year by:

(a) Raising, harvesting and selling crops, fruit, flowers, timber and other products of the soil;

(b) Feeding, breeding, management and sale of livestock, poultry, or the produce thereof, if the real property used therefor is owned or leased by the operator and is of sufficient size and capacity to produce more than one-half of the feed required during that year for the agricultural pursuit;

(c) Operating a feed lot consisting of at least 50 head of cattle or an equivalent number of units of sheep or hogs, for the production of food;

(d) Raising furbearing animals or bees;

(e) Dairying and the sale of dairy products; or

(f) Any other use determined by the department to constitute agricultural use if such use is verified by the department.

Current employment of real property in agricultural use includes:

(a) Land lying fallow for 1 year as a normal and regular requirement of good agricultural husbandry; and

(b) Land planted in orchards or other perennials prior to maturity; and

(c) Land leased or otherwise made available for use by an agricultural association

Application - The owner of the land must file the appropriate application for agricultural use assessment by June 1 with the county assessor of each county in which the property is located if it is 20 acres or more, or with the Department of Taxation if the property is less than 20 acres. New applications are required only upon a change of ownership or a conversion of the land to a higher use.

Change in Use Penalty - Specially assessed agricultural real property that is converted to a use other than agricultural use (i.e., to a so-called "higher use") may be reassessed for the current year and the six preceding years to effectively recapture the tax benefits that accrued from the special assessment. In some instances, prepayment of the deferred tax may be required before a conversion to a higher use is allowed.

Agricultural real property will be deemed to have been "converted to a higher use" by:

A physical alteration of the surface of the property enabling it to be used for a higher use;

The recording or existence a final map or parcel map that creates one or more parcels not intended for agricultural use; or

A change in zoning to a higher use made at the owner's request.

Upon the conversion of agricultural real property to a higher use, an assessor has five years within which to assess the applicable deferred tax. Any deferred tax assessment remains a perpetual lien on the property until the assessment is paid or the property is transferred to an exempt owner.

The owner of agricultural real property must notify the assessor when the property no longer qualifies for the special assessment because it is no longer being used exclusively for agricultural use or because it otherwise has been converted to a higher use. Such notice must be provided within 30 days of the disqualifying event. A penalty of 20% of the accumulated deferred tax must be assessed if the notice is not provided. The penalty may be waived on the basis of extenuating circumstances.

Valuation and Assessment - Property that qualifies as agricultural real property is assessed at 35% of its value for agricultural use.

Open Space Real Property:

Consistent with the provisions applicable to agricultural real property

1. The owner of the open space property must apply for the special assessment treatment (NRS 361A.180, NRS 361A.190), which applications are subject to review by the affected county and city governing bodies (NRS 361A.200);

2. Deferred taxes may be assessed if the use of the property is changed to a higher use (NRS 361A.265, NRS 361A.280, NRS 361A.286); and

3. The owner is required to report changes from open space use. (NRS 361A.270, NRS 361A.290)

"Open-space real property" is:

1) Land:

(a) located within a classified area and subject to regulations designed to promote the conservation of open space and the protection of other natural and scenic resources from unreasonable impairment; and

(b) devoted to open space exclusively.

2) The improvements on the land described in subsection 1 that is used primarily to support the open-space use and not primarily to increase the value of surrounding developed property or secure an immediate monetary return;

3) Land that is used as a golf course;

4) Land regarding which the owner has granted and has outstanding a lease of surface water rights appurtenant to the property to a political subdivision of this State for a municipal use, if the land was agricultural real property at the time the lease was granted. (NRS 361A.040)

Valuation and Assessment - Upon approval of the application, the assessor calculates the open-space use assessed value for open space other than golf courses, by discounting the property's equalized taxable value. The Nevada Tax Commission adopted a formula that grants open-space use assessments a discount of 9 percent for a term of 3 and 1/2 years, which yields a discount factor of 0.74.

Open space value thus equals taxable value of the open-space property times a factor of 0.74. The assessed value equals 35 percent of the open-space use value.

The state of Nevada does not have a severance or yield tax on timber or timber products.

Nevada Department of Taxation Division of Local Government Services. Agricultural Land Values Open Space Property Procedures.