This misses the point. All states tax different things at different levels. You need to look at your personal situation and finances as well as lifestyle to see what makes sense.
But seriously - if any of y'all decide to go back to Cali please cast a vote in November before moving back ;)
Uhhh.... what?
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/tax-day-farms-owne...
> That’s exactly what Michael Dell did with the suburban Austin ranch he uses as a second home. Periodically hunting and maintaining a “well-managed deer herd” reduced the property’s 2005 market value from $71.4 million to an agricultural value of $290,000, which saves him—and costs Texas—$1.2 million a year.
> It’s all perfectly legal under Texan law. As long as property owners stick to the state guidelines, country officials have no right to deny them agricultural status. Korea’s Samsung Electronics qualified for a “wildlife management” agricultural tax exemption on fifty-four acres of land outside its semiconductor plant in the Northeast Austin by putting up a few birdhouses, eradicating ants and taking a wildlife “census,” which reduced its tax bill from $21,080 to just over $135 (a reduction of over 99.4 percent), reported the Wall Street Journal in 2007. If wildlife isn’t your thing, dedicating a few acres to Christmas trees is enough to qualify for a property tax exemption under “timber production,” which is exactly what Hewlett-Packard opted for on its corporate campus in Houston. The company saved half a million dollars in property taxes in 2004, despite the fact that it openly plans to develop that land.
See https://www.timbertax.org/statetaxes/states/summary/wisconsi... for some examples or even California: https://www.timbertax.org/statetaxes/states/summary/californ...
> Description: Annual timberland property tax is based on its current use. Standing timber is exempt from local ad valorem tax system and instead is subject to a state tax at the time of harvest. The revenue generated from timber yield tax is collected by the State Board of Equalization and then is distributed back to the counties where the timber was harvested.
California has its own screwed up property tax policy - all of Prop 13 should be immediately repealed - but it's different in impact and abuse potential than Texas's ag. nonsense.
Though I guess it would be more “Texas” to instead establish a church or non-profit to hold the land for you.
While we are at it, taxes in Idaho are even higher. Also Idahoan bears prefer the taste of Californians too.