assessed valuation; agricultural land

HB 2318 changes how agricultural land is valued for property tax purposes in Arizona. It requires using only the income approach, based on the average net cash rental rate of comparable land over five years (excluding taxes), capitalized at 1.5 percentage points above average farm loan interest rates. The bill specifically excludes permanent crops and depreciating improvements from the definition of "agricultural land" for valuation. This directly affects Arizona farmers and ranchers whose property taxes are calculated using this new method. The bill does not alter tax rates or who pays taxes, only the assessment methodology.