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Bill would exempt short‑duration conservation grazing on nonprofit prairie lands from property tax
Summary
House File 1698 would allow nonprofit landowners to host ecologically targeted grazing without triggering a property tax liability, supporters said the change is revenue neutral because the parcels are already tax‑exempt.
Rep. Anderson, author of House File 1698, said the bill would enable conservation organizations to lease short‑duration grazing to private ranchers as an ecological management tool without triggering property tax on tax‑exempt parcels. “This bill is rather unique in that it fills a need for land that farmers and ranchers use for grazing cattle. And yet it doesn't cost, a net cost is 0,” the author said.
Liz Beery, Associate Director of Grasslands for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, testified in support. “I'm here today to speak in support of House file 16 98, which would help the Nature Conservancy conduct prairie management on certain tax exempt lands by enabling the use of cattle grazing by private ranchers as a conservation tool,” Beery said. She told the committee that targeted, limited‑duration grazing helps control invasive cool‑season grasses and supports native forbs, pollinators and grassland birds, and that some sites cannot be burned due to topography or neighbor concerns.
Beery said the Nature Conservancy has invested in fencing and watering infrastructure and that the parcels at issue are already tax‑exempt; the department’s revenue statement from the previous session found state cost to be “de minimis,” she said. She estimated the bill would apply to roughly 30–40 tracts and “approximately 6,000 acres” statewide; grazing would be short‑term and episodic rather than year‑round.
Committee members raised concerns about possible future abuse of broad statutory language. Representative Smith said she was “hopeful” to sign on as an author but worried “an enterprising, business person might set up a, quote, nonprofit conservation organization and potentially lease or loan large tracts of land for grazing, which I don't think is anyone's intent in this bill.”
Representative Anderson and supporting testifiers responded that land prices and practicalities make that abuse unlikely and that legislation can be tailored. Members asked about sheep and goats; Beery said cattle are most common though other livestock are used in specific circumstances.
Anderson renewed his motion that House File 1698 be laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill; the committee laid the bill over by voice vote. No departmental witness formally opposed the bill during the hearing.
