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A LANDOWNER using the land use tax is providing a service and, like the garbage crew or highway builder, he too must be paid for that service, Paxton Marshall told members of the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection at a meeting last Friday night.
Marshall is extension specialist in the public policy department of agricultural economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
The concept of the land use tax as a service that must be funded is often overlooked, Marshall said. “When the tax is applied the non-qualifying residents of a locality must realize that they are agreeing to pay the difference,” he explained. ^
Land use tax permits property owners who have land in open space, forest or agricultural and horticultural purposes to be taxed at a special rate based on the use of that land, not on its fair market value. The service they provide in exchange for a lower tax rate is to maintain that land as a productive resource, Marshall said.
RICHARD McNEAR, planning engineer for Fauquier County, who was attending the meeting, pointed out that another service provided by the landowner was keeping the land out of development, thus slowing an overall tax increase. Fauquier is one of three northern Virginia counties that have enacted the tax; the others are Loudoun and Prince William.
Marshall stated that the general intent of the land use special assesment is to dedicate the qualifying land to public benefit by providing a source of agricultural, horticultural, and forest products and of open space within reach of population concentrations.
This legislation is also intended to help prevent erosion, protect water supplies and preserve areas of scenic beauty, Marshall said. He added that the Constitution of Virginia, adopted in 1970, specifically provides for the sub-classification of land.
Radford
graduate
Miss Betty L. Jenkins of Washington, Va. was graduated from Radford College recently during the fall quarter commencement exercises at the college. She received a bachelor’s^ degree in early childhood' education. ?
Miss Jenkins is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Jenkins and was graduated in 1969 from Rappahannock County High School. □
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