FLORIDA 
Modified Assessment Law.! 
Mandatory. Enacted 1959. Amended 1967. 
Statutes Annotated Sec. 193.201. 
Eligibility 
All lands zoned by County Agricultural Zoning 
Boards as “agricultural lands’ are eligible for 
modified assessment. Such Boards are to zone 
lands within the county on an annual basis, as 
either ‘agricultural’ or ‘“nonagricultural’’. ‘‘Ag- 
ricultural lands’? as defined by the Act include 
those devoted to forestry. 
No lands shall be zoned ‘‘agricultural” unless a 
return is made stating that such lands were used 
on January 1 primarily for ‘agricultural’? pur- 
poses. The taxpayer may be required to establish 
that such lands were actually used for a bona fide 
“agricultural” purpose. 
When property which is zoned “agricultural” is 
diverted to another use, or when it ceases to be 
used for agricultural purposes, it shall be reclassi- 
fied ‘‘nonagricultural”’. Lands may also be re- 
classified ‘‘nonagricultural’’ when there is a con- 
tinguous urban or metropolitan development on 
two or more sides and when the Board finds that 
continued use of such lands for agricultural pur- 
poses would act as a deterrent to the timely and 
orderly expansion of the community. 
1 Known as the ‘“‘Green Belt Law.”’ 
Tax treatment 
Land and timber. In assessing “agricultural 
lands”’, the assessor is to consider no factors other 
than those relative to such use. Only the following 
use factors are to be taken into consideration: the 
present depreciated value of improvements, the 
quantity and size of the property, the condition 
of the property, its present value as agricultural 
land, the income produced by the property, the 
character of the area in which the property is 
located and such other agricultural factors as may 
become applicable ?. 
NOTE: The 1957 Assessment Law as amended 
in 1963, Statutes Annotated Sec. 193.11(8), under 
which modified assessment for forest land was 
formerly authorized, was suspended effective 
January 1, 1968 for such period as the 1967 amend- 
ment to the Green Belt Law remains in effect 
(Laws of Florida, Chap. 67-593). 
2 For advisory forest land values see Timber Section of Real 
Estate Guide for Assessors, Office of Comptroller, Jacksonville. 
Reproduced in part in State Guides for Assessing Forest Land 
and Timber—1966. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, 
1967. 
HAWAII 
Modified Assessment Law. Optional. Enacted 1961. Amended 1963. 
Revised Laws 1955, 1963 Supplement 
Sec. 98H; 128-9.2. 
Classification 
Qualification. Land located within a Conserva- 
tion District may be dedicated by the owner to a 
conservation use for a minimum period of 10 
years, automatically renewable indefinitely. The 
term ‘‘owner’”’ includes lessees whose leases have at 
least 10 years to run. 
Conservation Districts are one of four major 
land use districts into which all lands in the State 
are zoned. As defined by the Act, Conservation 
Districts include areas necessary for forestry, for 
protecting watersheds, preserving scenic areas, 
providing parklands, and for other related activi- 
ties not detrimental to a multiple use conserva- 
tion concept. Conservation Districts include the 
Forest and Water Reserve Zones established under 
1957 legislation and are governed by the Depart- 
ment of Land and Natural Resources. 
Procedure. The owner petitions the Director of 
Taxation undertaking to use his land for a desig- 
nated conservation purpose. The Director requests 
the Land Study Bureau to determine whether the 
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land is reasonably well suited to the intended use; 
among factors to be considered are land producti- 
vity, ownership, size of operating unit and present 
use of surrounding lands. In addition, the Director 
of Planning and Research determines whether 
the intended use is in conflict with the overall 
development plan of the State. If both findings are 
favorable, the Director of Taxation approves the 
petition and declares the tract to be dedicated 
land. 
The owner may appeal any disapproved peti- 
tion as in the case of an appeal from an assessment. 
Conditions governing continued classification. 
The land must be continued in the dedicated use. 
Declassification 
This may be effected at any time after five years 
by either the owner or the Director of Taxation, 
upon five years notice; it is provided, however, 
that if rezoning results in the land being located 
within an Urban District, dedication may be can- 
celled within 60 days by mutual consent. 
