SB2555 Summary

• Reduces minimum acreage requirements for agricultural areas from 600,000 population threshold to 100,000, requiring 350 acres in counties under 100,000 population and 100 acres in counties with 100,000 or more population.

• Requires land within agricultural areas to be primarily used for agricultural production and assessed as part of a farm under the Property Tax Code.

• Expands who can petition for land withdrawal from agricultural areas to include "residents or landowners" (previously "any person") and requires county boards to consider objections from nearby municipalities.

• Authorizes county boards to collect withdrawal fees up to 3 times the difference between property taxes collected under farmland assessment versus non-farmland assessment during the review period.

• Designates agricultural areas as preservation districts and individual properties within them as landmarks under the Counties Code.

• Removes the population restriction that excluded counties with 1 million or more residents from the Act's application.