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June 3 town meeting on land use issues. “The General Assembly knows that something is wrong with the Code. We know it has bugs in it but I don't think they anticipated all the problems that have arisen.”
Beard reported that he'd recently been appointed to an Assembly finance subcommittee to study land use. Concern over the state’s legislation that allows localities the authority to establish use value taxation grew out of “a disaster in Prince William County," he said.
By taking advantage of deferred use value taxation, Hylton Industries, the developers of Dale City, were able to save $200,000 in local taxes, according to Beard. The company owns 2,685 acres in Prince William that were originally assessed at $4,147,000. Although the property is slated for eventual development, it was approved for use value tax treatment, dropping the assessment to $181,000. As a result. Beard said, the tax bill on the land dropped from $227,000 to $10,000.
''They’ve taken the law to preserve open space and the agricultural industry and turned it in for a profit," Beard charged. (This was possible, he said, because enabling legislation allows an owner of property in land use to cut off acreage for development while keeping the balance of the tract in the
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Temperature
May Rise
Thursday should be sunny with highs in the mid-70s to mid-80s. Warmer temperatures, and more humid conditions, are expected by Saturday with temperatures high in the 80s. Lows will range from the 50s to the 60s.
77.5%