Louisiana identifies four types of land that shall be assessed for ad valorem tax purposes at ten percent of use value rather than fair market value:

 

1) Agricultural land- land devoted to the production for sale, in reasonable commercial quantities, of plants and animals, or their products, useful to man and agricultural land under a contract with a state or federal agency restricting its use for agricultural production

 

2.) Horticultural land- land devoted to the production for sale, in reasonable commercial quantities, of fruits, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants, and horticultural land under a contract with a state or federal agency restricting its use for horticultural production

 

3.) Marsh land- wet land other than agricultural, horticultural or timber land

 

4.) Timberland- land stocked by forest trees of any size and specie, or formerly having such tree cover within the last three years and not currently developed or being used for non-forest purposes, and devoted to the production, in reasonable commercial quantities, of timber and timber products, and timberland under a contract with a state or federal agency restricting its use for timber production

 

In order to be classified as use value land, the following conditions must be met:

 

1.) the land must meet the definition(s) criteria per above

 

2.) the owner must file an application with the West Baton Rouge Parish Assessor certifying the land is eligible for use value assessment

 

3.) in the case of agricultural, horticultural and timberland, the land must be at least three acres in size and have an average gross annual income of at least $2,000 in one or more of the designated classifications for the four proceeding years

 

The Modern Soil Surveys published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service, shall be used for determining the use value classification of agricultural, horticultural and timberland.