Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation that will codify a property tax break for commercial horse properties.
Brewer's short signing letter said the bill "statutorily clarifies the treatment of equine properties as agricultural." Her staff was not available Tuesday to discuss her position.
The bill's sponsor in the House was Rep. Heather Carter of Cave Creek, with co-sponsorship by Rep. Karen Fann of Prescott. The sponsor of the companion Senate Bill 1183 was Senate Majority Whip Steve Pierce, a Prescott rancher who raises cattle and horses.
"This new law is a return to an existing classification for folks that have been historically agricultural," Carter stated in a press release from Carter and Fann Tuesday that praised the governor for signing the bill. "We're trying to keep it from being shifted onto us."
In an e-mail to constituents, Pierce made similar statements, saying the legislation is "only a correction to put the properties back where they should have been" after assessors classified them as commercial.
The bill adds land and improvements for training, breeding, raising and boarding horses and other equine as ag lands for property tax purposes, according to the Legislature's summary.