Relating to the eligibility of certain land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes on the basis of its productivity value and the consequences for those purposes of a change of use or sale of the land.

HB 4959 modifies Texas property tax rules for agricultural land, allowing landowners to appraise certain farmland at its "productivity value" (lower than market value) for tax purposes. It affects Texas landowners who use property for agriculture, requiring continuous agricultural use for three years and making farming their primary income source to qualify. The bill clarifies that waiving this special appraisal doesn’t count as a "change of use" triggering higher taxes, and updates definitions of "qualified open-space land" to include wildlife management areas meeting specific standards. If land is sold or stops being used for agriculture, it would lose the lower tax rate. This focuses on maintaining stable tax assessments for working farmland.