Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 2 · column 5 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
government that discourages development,” he added, since development — particularly small lot— increases the demand for county services which in turn drives taxes up, and in a continuous cycle, adds to the farmer’s financial burden and pressures to sell out to developers.
He acknowledged that the immediate effect of adopting land use will be to increase taxes on houses and lots. “But the long term benefits to the small lot owner will be much greater if that land isn’t subdivided,” he argued, adding that subdivision and zoning regulations along with tax policy are the only tools local government can use to combat unwanted development.
Farmers Already Helped
Col. Luke countered that the supervisors have already afforded farmers a tax break by removing this year the levies on farm machinery and livestock, a total of S5.5 million which must be made up in property taxes. “We may not be taxing anybody out of their houses but we’re moving in that direction,” he warned. With real estate Rappahannock’s only tax base, “there is going to come the day when somebody at the lower end of the economic scale is not going to be able to pay their taxes," Luke predicted.
91.0%