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constitutional because it conflicted with the section of the Virginia Constitution that reads "all taxes ... shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority leveling the tax." At that time, Marshall noted, the Constitution only recognized one class of land. To ensure the constitutionality of land use, it was necessary to include subclasses of property — agricultural, forestal, horticultural and open space.
While the Constitution now acknowledges different categories of land for tax purposes, Virginia law doesn’t answer many of the other arguments raised against use value taxation, Marshall continued. Enabling legislation doesn’t make allowance for the property owner of a tract proposed for land use who derives all of his income from an off-farm business; it doesn’t differentiate between farming operations and land holdings that qualify for use value but are clearly intended for eventual development. Use value law, said Marshall, "applies to the land” whether the land owner is wealthy, whether the land owner can easily afford to pay taxes at the fair market rate.
Developer Can Benefit Under use value enabling legislation, Marshall continued, a developer can sell off five acres from a tjjact included in the program, pay the rollback taxes on the
81.7%