ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 64, RSMo, relating to county planning and zoning by adding thereto three new sections relating to the farmland protection act.
Section A. Chapter 64, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto three new sections, to be known as sections 64.990, 64.993 and 64.996, to read as follows:
64.990. 1. Sections 64.990 to 64.996 shall be known and may be cited as the "Farmland Protection Act".
2. The purpose of the farmland protection act shall be to:
(1) Protect agricultural, horticultural and forestry land;
(2) Promote the continued economic viability of agriculture, horticulture and forestry as a business;
(3) Promote the continued economic viability of those businesses dependent on providing materials, equipment and services to agriculture, horticulture or forestry; and
(4) Promote quality of life in the agriculture community.
64.993. 1. The state or any political subdivision shall hold water and sewer assessments in abeyance, without interest, until improvements on such property are connected to the water or sewer system for which the assessment was made.
2. This section shall only apply to tracts of real property:
(1) Comprised of ten or more contiguous acres; and
(2) Used as agricultural or single family residential property or both; and
(3) Not in a platted subdivision.
3. At the time improvements on such property are connected to either the water or sewer system, the owner shall pay to the political subdivision an amount equal to the proportionate charge for the number of system lines connected to improvements on such property.
4. The owner shall not be charged based on the total cost of running the water or sewer assessments to or across the owner's real property. Rather, the assessment shall be based on:
(1) A reasonable hookup charge; and
(2) A proportionate charge for the number of improvements requested to be connected to such assessments in relation to the total capacity of the system; and
(3) The anticipated proportionate burden to the system.
5. The period of abeyance shall end when the owner exercises the option to connect to the improvements for which the assessment was made.
6. When the period of abeyance ends, the assessment is payable in accordance with the terms set out in the assessment resolution, so long as said terms are not inconsistent with sections 64.990 to 64.996. To the extent that such terms are inconsistent, the provisions of sections 64.990 to 64.996 shall control.
7. Statutes of limitations are suspended during the time that any assessment is held in abeyance without interest.
8. The political subdivision responsible for assessments shall notify the owner of the amount proposed to be charged and the terms of payment for each improvement requested to be connected to said assessment. The notice shall:
(1) Be provided in writing to the owner at the address provided by the owner as the address for receiving receipt of notice;
(2) Be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested within forty-five days of receipt of the request for hookup from the owner;
(3) State in the body of the letter as follows: "As owner of the property proposed to be assessed, you have thirty days from the date of receipt of this notice to accept, in writing, the amount of the assessment stated herein or to appeal the amount to the circuit court of the county where the real property is located".
9. If the owner disputes the amount of assessment when the period of abeyance ends, the owner may appeal the amount of the assessment to the circuit court of the county in which the application was filed within thirty days of the receipt of the notice.
10. Nothing in this section is intended to diminish the authority of counties to hold assessments in abeyance.
64.996. Property subject to the farmland protection act may not be taken in whole or in part by any political
subdivision of this state by eminent domain unless, in addition to approval by the county commission, a majority of
the total number of authorized members of the soil and water conservation board vote to support such taking by
eminent domain.
Missouri
House of Representatives