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Committee keeps agrivoltaics assessment extension; members question farmland impacts
Summary
House Bill 734 extends eligibility for agricultural-use assessment for agrivoltaics projects to 2030 and authorizes SDAT pre-construction reviews; members questioned whether the $2,500 income threshold and continued tax treatment encourage conversion of farmland to solar.
The Ways and Means Committee on March 18 adopted amendments to House Bill 734, a bill addressing property-tax treatment for agrivoltaics projects. The amendment extends the deadline for qualifying community solar energy generating systems on agricultural land from Dec. 31, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2030, and directs the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to determine before construction whether a proposed agrivoltaics project will qualify for an agricultural-use assessment.
Delegate Roberson told the committee the change preserves a 2022 law allowing agrivoltaics projects to qualify for agricultural assessments if they meet use requirements. Delegate Hartman pressed staff on whether the existing $2,500 agricultural-income requirement — which can apply to large acreages of solar — effectively encourages erosion of traditional crop production and whether the rule permits large solar fields to claim agricultural tax treatment with minimal agricultural output.
Sponsor and staff replies clarified that all the land must be used for an agricultural purpose and that the 2022 framework the current amendment continues remains in effect. The committee adopted the amendments and moved HB 734 favorable with amendments; two members were recorded as opposed.
