Sec. 23.84. APPLICATION. (a) A person claiming the right to have his land appraised under this subchapter must apply for the right the first year he claims it. Application for appraisal under this chapter is made by filing a sworn application form with the chief appraiser for the appraisal district in which the land is located.

(b) A claimant must deliver a completed application form to the chief appraiser before May 1 and must furnish the information required by the form. For good cause shown the chief appraiser may extend the deadline for filing the application by written order for a single period not to exceed 60 days.

(c) If a claimant fails to timely file a completed application form, the land is ineligible for appraisal as provided by this subchapter for that year. Once an application is filed and appraisal under this subchapter is allowed, the land is eligible for appraisal under this subchapter during the term of the deed restriction without a new application unless the ownership of the land changes or its eligibility under this subchapter ends. However, the chief appraiser, if he has good cause to believe the land's eligibility under this subchapter has ended, may require a person allowed appraisal under this subchapter in a prior year to file a new application to confirm that the land is currently eligible under this subchapter by delivering a written notice that a new application is required, accompanied by the application form, to the person who filed the application that was previously allowed.

(d) A person whose land is allowed appraisal under this subchapter shall notify the appraisal office in writing before May 1 after eligibility of the land under this subchapter ends.

(e) If the chief appraiser discovers that appraisal under this subchapter has been erroneously allowed in any one of the five preceding years, the chief appraiser shall add the difference between the appraised value of the land under this subchapter and the market value of the land if it had not been restricted to recreational, park, or scenic uses to the appraisal roll as provided by Section 25.21 of this code for other property that escapes taxation.

(f) The comptroller in prescribing the contents of the application forms shall ensure that each form requires a claimant to furnish the information necessary to determine the validity of the claim and that the form requires the claimant to state that the land for which he claims appraisal under this subchapter will be used exclusively for recreational, park, or scenic uses in the current year.

Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., 1st C.S., p. 149, ch. 13, Sec. 79, eff. Jan. 1, 1982. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 6, Sec. 29, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 579, Sec. 7, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.