Bill Text: NJ A3065 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced

New Jersey Assembly Bill 3065

Introduced

Bill Title: Establishes pilot program in Division of Taxation to provide income tax credits for the opening of certain homesteads to hunting activities in areas with high number of wildlife incidents.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee [A3065 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2024-A3065-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 3065

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ANTWAN L. MCCLELLAN

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Sauickie

SYNOPSIS

Establishes pilot program in Division of Taxation to provide income tax credits for the opening of certain homesteads to hunting activities in areas with high number of wildlife incidents.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act establishing a pilot program to provide gross income tax credits for the opening of certain homesteads to hunting activities and supplementing chapter 4 of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. As used in this section:

"Director" means the Director of the Division of Taxation.

"Dwelling house" means any residential property assessed as real property which consists of not more than four units, of which not more than one may be used for commercial purposes, but shall not include a unit in a condominium, cooperative, horizontal property regime or mutual housing corporation.

"Eligible homestead" means a dwelling house and the land on which that dwelling house is located which has at least 10 acres of huntable property, constitutes the place of the taxpayer's domicile, and is owned and used by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's principal residence. Eligible homestead shall not include a homestead with an existing deed restriction or easement requiring public access.

"Principal residence" means a homestead actually and continually occupied by a taxpayer as the taxpayer's permanent residence, as distinguished from a vacation home, property owned and rented or offered for rent by the taxpayer, and other secondary real property holdings.

b. The Director of the Division of Taxation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall establish a five-year pilot program to allow resident taxpayers who own eligible homesteads to apply for tax credits against the tax otherwise due for a taxable year under the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq. to promote the opening of a limited number of eligible homesteads for lawful hunting activities. The amount of the credit shall be in an amount equal to $1,500 for the first 10 acres of huntable property opened for hunting, with an additional $200 credit for each additional acre of huntable property that is opened for hunting.

c. In order to participate in the pilot program, a taxpayer shall submit an application to the director that contains the following information:

(1) location of the eligible homestead;

(2) proof of the taxpayer's ownership of the eligible homestead and the total amount of huntable property;

(3) a map of the eligible homestead to be opened up to hunting that identifies:

(a) the boundaries of the homestead;

(b) how the boundaries of the homestead are to be marked, whether through fencing, signs, painted trees, or other similar markings; and

(c) a description of the homestead, including the kind of terrain, principal use of the property, and the locations of nearby highways, rivers, streams, and population centers;

(4) the types of wildlife that can be hunted on the homestead;

(5) the maximum number of individuals who can hunt at the homestead at any given time;

(6) any other information the director and the commissioner deem necessary.

Maps supplied to the director as part of an application shall be either printed from tax maps, or taken from satellite images.

d. The director, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall select no more than 12 eligible taxpayers who may claim tax credits under the pilot program for the taxable years for which they have applied. In selecting taxpayers to participate in the program, the director and the commissioner shall give preference to homesteads in areas with high incidents of:

(1) wildlife fatalities on roadways;

(2) property damage caused by wildlife; and

(3) injuries to local residents as a result of a wildlife encounter.

As a condition of receiving credits under the pilot program each year, a taxpayer shall be required to permit hunting at the homestead a minimum of two days per week from 9:00 A.M. through 5:00 P.M. and allow the hunting of wildlife in accordance with hunting seasons prescribed by the State Fish and Game Code.

To the greatest extent practicable, the director shall ensure that the taxpayers selected equally represent the northern, central, and southern regions of the State. The director shall publish the names of taxpayers selected to participate in the pilot program on the Division of Taxation's official internet website.

e. A taxpayer selected for the pilot program shall be allowed to claim the tax credit for any taxable year of the five year pilot program upon annual approval thereof by the director after submitting a completed annual tax credit application. As part of the annual application, the taxpayer shall be required to submit a log of each hunt held on the eligible homestead during the taxable year containing the date and time of the hunt, an inventory of wildlife successfully hunted and taken from the homestead, and the signatures of the taxpayer and each individual who participated in the hunt.

f. On or before the first day of the tenth month after the conclusion of the pilot program established pursuant to this act, the director, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature containing the following information:

(1) the number of taxpayers with eligible homesteads who applied to participate in the pilot program;

(2) the number of taxpayers with eligible homesteads who received tax credits under the program;

(3) the total amount of tax credits distributed to taxpayers with eligible homesteads each year;

(4) the number of individuals licensed to hunt who received permission to hunt at the homestead of a taxpayer along with the total number and types of wildlife taken from participating homesteads;

(5) whether there has been a decrease in the number of wildlife fatalities on roadways, property damage caused by wildlife, and injuries to local residents as a result of a wildlife encounter;

(6) recommendations as to the ways in which the pilot program can be improved and whether the program should be continued on a permanent basis; and

(7) any other information the director and commissioner deem appropriate.

g. The director, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to effectuate the purposes of this section.

2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the first five taxable years beginning after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a five year pilot program, administered by the Division of Taxation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, to allow resident taxpayers who own eligible homesteads to apply for gross income tax credits to promote the opening of a limited number of eligible homesteads for lawful hunting activities. The amount of the credit would be equal to $1,500 for the first 10 acres of huntable property opened for hunting, with an additional $200 credit for each additional acre of huntable property that is opened for hunting.

The bill defines an "eligible homestead" as a dwelling house and the land on which that dwelling house is located which is at least 10 acres of huntable property, constitutes the place of the taxpayer's domicile, and is owned and used by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's principal residence. Homesteads with an existing deed restriction or easement requiring public access would be excluded from the program.

In order to participate in the pilot program, a taxpayer would be required to submit an application with the following information:

� location of the eligible homestead;

� proof of the taxpayer's ownership of the eligible homestead and the total amount of huntable property;

� a map of the eligible homestead to be opened up to hunting that identifies: (1) the boundaries of the homestead; (2) how the boundaries of the homestead are to be marked, whether through fencing, signs, painted trees, or other similar markings; and (3) a description of the homestead, including the kind of terrain, principal use of the property, and the locations of nearby highways, rivers, streams, and population centers;

� the types of wildlife that can be hunted on the homestead;

� the maximum number of individuals who can hunt at the homestead at any given time;

� recommendations as to the ways the pilot program can be improved and whether the program should be continued on a permanent basis; and

� any other information the director and the commissioner deem necessary.

The director, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, would then be required to select no more than 12 eligible taxpayers who may claim tax credits under the pilot program. In selecting taxpayers to participate in the program, the director and the commissioner preference would be given to homesteads in areas with high incidents of wildlife fatalities on roadways, property damage caused by wildlife, and injuries to local residents as a result of a wildlife encounter. As a condition of receiving credits under the pilot program each year, a taxpayer would be required to permit hunting at the homestead a minimum of two days per week from 9:00 A.M. through 5:00 P.M. and allow the hunting of wildlife in accordance with hunting seasons prescribed by the State Fish and Game Code.

A taxpayer selected for the program would be allowed to claim the tax credit for any taxable year of the program upon approval of an annual tax credit application each year. As part of the annual application, the taxpayer would submit a log of each hunt held on the eligible homestead during the taxable year containing the date and time of the hunt, an inventory of wildlife successfully hunted and taken from the homestead, and the signatures of the taxpayer and each individual who participated in the hunt.

On or before the first day of the tenth month after the conclusion of the pilot program, the director, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, would be required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the administration of the program, along with recommendations as to the ways the pilot program can be improved and whether the program should be continued on a permanent basis.