Senate Bill 388 Summary

• Expands the existing farmer sales tax exemption to include qualifying farmers and conditional farmers who operate zoos, allowing them to exempt zoo operation items (feed, feeders, machinery, fuel) from sales and use tax effective January 1, 2023.

• Creates a new sales tax exemption for wildlife managers who own land classified as wildlife conservation land, exempting specific items used for wildlife management activities including feed, pesticides, fertilizer, machinery, fuel, and construction materials for wildlife habitats effective October 1, 2022.

• Requires wildlife managers to obtain an exemption certificate valid for three years and allows contractors and service providers to claim exemptions when purchasing items to fulfill contracts with certificate-holding wildlife managers, with three-year record retention requirements.

• Restructures the property taxation of wildlife conservation land to assess land differently based on use type: forestland assessment for wildlife species protection and habitat protection, and agricultural land assessment for wildlife reserves.

• Reduces the required ownership duration for wildlife conservation land from five years to four years and increases the acreage cap for non-reserve wildlife conservation land from 100 to 200 acres per county, effective for tax years beginning July 1, 2022.