(a) Eligibility of land for valuation, assessment and taxation under this section shall be determined for each tax year separately. Application shall be submitted by the owner to the assessor of the taxing district in which such land is situated on or before February 1 of the year immediately preceding the tax year for which such valuation, assessment and taxation are sought; provided however, that unless the eligibility of land under this section changes, those applications which have met the provisions to qualify under this chapter shall be automatically renewed without the owner having to apply annually. With respect to new applications, eligibility of the land for valuation, assessment and taxation under this section shall be conditioned upon advance execution by the landowner of a certification, in recordable form, as provided by the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation, which certification indicates that a roll-back tax is due and payable to the school districts and the Foundation under the provisions of § 8335(d) of this title at such time that the land is subjected to a change in use or applied to a use other than agricultural, horticultural or forestry, as such terms are defined, and that a failure to pay the roll-back tax when due results in the imposition of a lien on the land for nonpayment.
(b) (1) If the eligibility of land under this section changes the owner shall on or before February 1, of the following year in which the eligibility of the land changes, notify the assessing authority in the taxing district, in writing, of the change in land use.
(2) Any owner who fails to properly notify the assessing authority in the tax district of the change in land use shall be assessed a penalty for such failure in an amount of 20% of the rollback taxes recoverable against the property, which penalty shall be collected by the taxing district.