County counsel review of exclusive farm use zoning ordinances; notice upon determination of unqualified land; assessment pending zone requalification

(1) Upon written request of the county assessor or county governing body, the county counsel shall review the zoning ordinances of the county that purport to establish exclusive farm use zones to determine if any zone mentioned in the ordinance is not an exclusive farm use zone. If the county counsel is in doubt as to whether a zone is an exclusive farm use zone, the county counsel shall request the assistance of the Department of Revenue under ORS 305.110. The county counsel shall promptly notify the county assessor and county governing body by letter of the findings of the county counsel. (2) If the assessor discovers any land that has been granted farm use special assessment under ORS 308A.062 that is not qualified for such assessment because the zone is not an exclusive farm use zone, the assessor shall immediately notify the county governing body of this fact. (3) Within six months from the date the county governing body receives notice from the assessor or from the Land Conservation and Development Commission that a farm use zone is not an exclusive farm use zone, the county governing body shall qualify the zone as an exclusive farm use zone within the meaning of ORS 308A.062. The assessor shall continue to assess the land at the special assessment provided in ORS 308A.107 until the county governing body qualifies the zone or the land is disqualified under ORS 308A.113. (4) Subsections (1) to (3) of this section shall provide the exclusive procedure for correcting the erroneous granting of farm use special assessment as exclusive farm use zone farmland when the zone does not meet the definition of an exclusive farm use zone under ORS 308A.053.