Since 2012, Texas has recognized use of property for beekeeping as agricultural use for property tax valuation purposes. The state guidelines specify that this usage requires productivity in the beekeeping operation, and limit the property size to 5-20 acres, but beyond that provide little guidance and leave many specifics to be determined by the county appraisal office. This has led to much confusion on behalf of appraisers and property owners alike, as well as some unreasonable or unintelligible requirements in some counties. I was asked recently what LSBA could be doing at this point to benefit Texas beekeepers, and education on this subject was one of the first topics that came to mind.
The needed education on this topic is two-fold; both property owners/beekeepers and appraisers are in desperate need of clear information. In my capacity as president of Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association I’ve become aware of several situations where communication was proving difficult between members and appraisers. Most significantly this was happening when a soon-to-be beekeeper reached out to the appraisal office to ask about beekeeping usage requirements on their property. Neither party had any in-depth understanding of keeping bees, and as a result they were having a hard time communicating clearly with each other about beekeeping. Who would have thought, right?
Beekeepers have been faced with some odd and unfortunate information from some county offices. Some counties still don’t have written policies on beekeeping usage, and the answers you get may change dramatically from one appraiser to another. Some have simply implemented some outrageous or confusing requirements. One beekeeper told me their appraiser said they needed to remove all the trees from their property and maintain fields of wildflowers if they wanted to get ag valuation for bees. Another county has told beekeepers that only the land directly under a hive qualifies, with no benefit at all for the surrounding property… clearly a major deviation from other livestock exemptions; a cow is acknowledged as using acres, not just the land under its feet. Similarly, one DFW-area county has taken to telling property owners that they must personally own and manage the bees on their property in order to qualify, though cattle, goats, sheep, hay, timber, etc may all be a contracted situation with someone else’s operation on your land qualifying your property for agricultural taxation. I have bees in one county that has written guidelines for beekeeping agricultural usage that specifically require “mainframe hives” in order to qualify. Now granted, they mean Langstroth hives, and they accept Langstroth hives… but this kind of situation may cause a lot of headache for a soon-to-be beekeeper who can’t find “mainframe hives” in the bee supply catalogues.
Appraisal offices are faced with struggles trying to understanding beekeeping as well. I’ve had several conversations with appraisers who were shocked to learn about acceptable die-off rates, making splits, and the impact of seasonality on the availability of hives to purchase. I’ve had appraisers call me with questions like “Is one stack of 6 boxes 6 hives? Or is that 1 hive?” and “This guy has beehives that have been laying on their sides with frames spilling out on the ground for about a year… do you think he still has bees?” I had a substantial argument with one appraisal office over whether nucs qualified under the state guidelines as “products of commercial value;” they were of the opinion that only honey production fulfilled this aspect of the state guidelines until I provided examples of the salability of bees. Numerous counties are throwing out abstract hive density requirements with no understanding of what reasonable density expectations are for the forage available in their part of the state. Perhaps worst of all, many appraisers know that they don’t understand beekeeping as well as they understand other animal husbandry, and their struggle to prevent property owners from exploiting that may lead to a tendency to see beekeeping as a “loophole” rather than the legitimate ag usage that it is.
LSBA is launching the Apiary Land Use Valuation Education Committee to attempt to provide some education on some of these issues, and I have been appointed chair. Though long-term plans for this committee will continue to develop over time, our early goals will be to:
- Provide educational materials to beekeepers: these written materials will encompass not only state guidelines, but also give some basis for understanding reasonable expectations from the county, and detail how to best communicate with your local appraisal office.
- Provide educational materials to appraisal offices: these written materials will provide basic information pertaining to understanding beekeeping, as well as provide a basis for comparison to other counties and other agricultural uses. They will also provide a point of contact with the LSBA committee should appraisers have additional questions about beekeeping.
- Provide educational presentations on beekeeping ag usage: I will be available to present on beekeeping as ag usage for tax purposes. Travel expenses may apply.
We believe that we can help with progress in this area, and we believe that this progress can benefit beekeeping operations of all sizes. Whether you’re a larger operation looking for a few new bee yards, an aspiring side-liner needing to expand beyond your own backyard, or a soon-to-be small-scale beekeeper trying to get your first agricultural exemption, we’re here to help in any way we can. We welcome your suggestions, your feedback, and your participation. You can reach me at ryan@tvbees.org, or stay tuned to future LSBA newsletters for more information.
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