Agriculture Real Property Application – Charleston County, SC

The Agriculture Real Property Application is the Charleston County form owners file with the Assessor's Office to have a parcel classified as agricultural real property and valued based on its use. Its printed title is "APPLICATION FOR AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY TO BE VALUED BASED ON USE."

The front page asks for the parcel's PIN, total acres, how each part of the land is used (cropland, timberland, pasture, home site, dock, wetland, marsh or pond, mariculture), the buildings on it, any non-agricultural use or non-agricultural profit, corporate-owner details and, for non-timber tracts qualifying on farm income, gross farm income history. The owner certifies the answers and authorizes the Assessor to verify farm income and to inspect the property.

The back page, headed "APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL ASSESSMENT AS AGRICULTURAL REAL PROPERTY," reproduces excerpts of the South Carolina Code of Laws that govern the classification. It defines agricultural real property, lists the factors the Assessor weighs, sets minimum acreage, and explains roll-back taxes, the duty to report a change in use and the right to appeal. Each owner must read and initial those portions.

The form is not used for the owner's legal residence. A note on the front says that if the owner's legal residence is on the parcel, a separate application must be filed for the legal residence special assessment.

Owners of Charleston County land that is actually used for agriculture, grazing, horticulture, forestry, dairying or mariculture, and who want it valued on that use, file this application with the Charleston County Assessor's Office. Every owner of the parcel signs, and each owner must read and initial the qualification requirements on the back.

Conditions that decide whether the application can succeed:

• Separate application per parcel. You must file one application for each qualifying parcel.
• Timberland: at least five acres, thoroughly wooded with merchantable timber and actively devoted to growing trees for commercial use. Smaller tracts may qualify if contiguous to, or under the same management as, a qualifying tract, or owned together with qualifying non-timberland.
• Non-timberland: at least ten acres in bona fide agricultural use, or less than ten acres if contiguous tracts with common ownership add up to ten, gross farm income was at least $1,000 per parcel in three of the past five years, or the family-ownership condition printed on the back is met.
• Corporate owners: the form asks about shareholders and stock classes, and the back page states that the assessment differs for certain corporations.

Not eligible: property used as the residence of the owner or others, and dormant land unless it is part of a crop rotation system. An agent or LLC member who signs must submit a letter of authorization from the owner or a copy of the Articles of Incorporation.

File the application on or before the first penalty date for the taxes due for the tax year in which you claim the special assessment, which the form says is typically January 16. Missing that date results in abandonment of the agricultural classification for that tax year.

The certification states that the property must meet the requirements as of January first of the current tax year. Plats recorded for acreage changes in the current tax year are not effective until the following tax year.

Filing does not delay payment. Taxes already billed are due by the date on the bill, usually January 15, and penalties and interest cannot be waived if payment is late. After approval, the owner must notify the Assessor within six months of a change in use.

You can mail or hand-deliver the original signed application to the Charleston County Assessor's Office. The form says in capital letters not to fax or email it.

• Mail or deliver: the front page gives Charleston County Assessor's Office, 4050 Bridge View Drive, Suite 100, North Charleston, SC 29406. The back page gives Charleston County Assessor's Office, 3875 Faber Place Drive, Suite 100, North Charleston, SC 29405-8547. Because the two pages list different addresses, call the Assessor's Office at (843) 958-4100 to confirm where to send it.
• Original signatures: applications without original signatures, and incomplete applications, are returned.
• Attachments: missing documentation delays processing, so include everything listed under required documents.

Make a copy for your files before sending. You will be notified in writing if the application is denied. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.