SB 254 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STATE FARMLAND VALUATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

Hoffner DELAWARE& STATERep. SENATE 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE AMENDMENT NO.

1Carson TOSens. SENATE BILL NO.

254Hansen, AMENDHocker, SenateHuxtable, BillSokola, No.Wilson;

254Reps. on line 45 by deleting "3 years" as it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof "4 years".

FURTHERBerry, AMENDHarris SenateDELAWARE BillSTATE No.SENATE 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE BILL NO.

254 onAN lineACT 46TO byAMEND deletingTITLE "19 additionalOF term"THE asDELAWARE itCODE appearsRELATING thereinTO andTHE insertingSTATE inFARMLAND lieuVALUATION thereofADVISORY "2COMMITTEE. additional terms".

FURTHERBE AMENDIT SenateENACTED BillBY No.THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

254Section on1. line 55 by deleting "quarter" as it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof "6 months".

FURTHERAmend AMENDChapter Senate83, BillTitle No.9 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

254§ on8337. line 63 by deleting "and forestry land" as it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof "forestry land, and qualified farm structures".

SYNOPSISState ThisFarmland AmendmentEvaluation toAdvisory SenateCommittee. Bill No.

254(a) makesThere severalis changescreated toa the State Farmland ValuationEvaluation Advisory Committee.Committee, consisting of 3 members.

First,One themember Amendmentshall increasesbe the lengthDean of athe CommitteeCollege member'sof initialAgricultural termSciences fromof 3the toUniversity 4of years.Delaware;

Second,1 themember Amendmentshall increasesbe appointed by the numberGovernor from a list of additional3 termseligible acitizens, Committeewhich memberlist mayshall servebe fromsupplied 1the toGovernor 2.by the Executive Committee of the Delaware State Grange;

Third,and the1 Amendmentmember providesshall thatbe appointed by the CommitteeGovernor from a list of 3 eligible citizens, which list shall meetbe oncesupplied everythe 6Governor months,by ratherthe thanExecutive onceCommittee everyof quarter.the Delaware Farm Bureau.

FourthNo andmore finally,than the2 Amendmentmembers adds "qualified farm structures" to the list of categories for which the Committee isshall requiredbe toof review its valuation formula and methodology utilized to determine the rangessame ofpolitical fairparty. value.

Each member shall be a citizen of this State and shall be appointed for a term of 3 years beginning on the 1st day of July in the year of appointment.

Vacancies for any cause other than the expiration of term shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term.

(b) The Committee shall meet from time to time on the call of the Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and annually determine and publish a range of values for each of the several classifications of land in agricultural, horticultural or forest use in the various areas of the State.

The primary objective of the Committee shall be the determination of the ranges in fair value of such land based upon its productive capabilities when devoted to agricultural, horticultural or forest uses.

In making these annual determinations of value, the Committee shall consider available evidence of agricultural, horticultural or forest capability derived from the soil survey and such other evidence of value of land devoted exclusively to agricultural, horticultural or forest uses as it may in its judgment deem pertinent.

On or before February 1 of each year, the Committee shall make these ranges of fair value available to the assessing authority in each of the taxing districts in which land in agricultural, horticultural and forest use is located.

The Committee shall review at least every 2 years the formula, method or system being utilized to determine the ranges of fair values for agricultural, SD :

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03/09/2026 01:13 PM horticultural and forestry land and make such changes and revisions as are required to insure that the objectives of this section are met.

The formula used by the Committee shall be based on not less than the preceding 20 years of land values.

(a) There is hereby established a State Farmland Evaluation Advisory Committee.

(b) The Committee shall consist of 7 voting members:

(1) The Secretary of the Department of Finance, who shall serve as chair.

(2) 1 member, who shall be appointed by the Governor, from a list of 3 individuals provided to the Governor by the Executive Committee of the Delaware State Grange.

(3) 1 member, who shall be appointed by the Governor, from a list of 3 individuals provided to the Governor by the Executive Committee of the Delaware Farm Bureau.

(4) 1 member, who shall be appointed by the Governor, with real-world knowledge and an experiential understanding of agricultural financing.

(5) 1 member, who shall be appointed by the Governor, with real-world knowledge and an experiential understanding of farmland valuation.

(6) The Secretary of the Delaware Department of Agriculture or their designee.

(7) The Dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Delaware or their designee.

(c) No more than 4 voting members of the Committee shall be of the same political party.

(d) In addition to voting members, the Committee shall include 3 non-voting members:

(1) 1 non-voting member shall be an official from the Assessment Division of the Office of Finance of New Castle County.

(2) 1 non-voting member shall be an official from the Assessment Division of the Department of Finance of Kent County Levy Court.