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use value taxation afforded in an ag district, Marshall replied that "many more landowners are able to participate in use value taxation.” (Ag districts require a minimum of 500 contiguous acres. The property, however, may be held by several different owners.) “But it must be taMaalmd > with, u* value taxation, there is a bigger shift (in the tax burden) than with ag districts,” the extension specialist cautioned.
Beaurocracy Attacked
The creation of an agricultural and forestal district is "an awfully bureaucratic process,” said Newbill Miller, adding that this was the best argument for county-wide use value taxation. Public hearings must be held by the special ag district advisory committee, planning commission and board of supervisors prior to approval of an ag district. Advertisements for the public hearings are costly and the whole process is very time consuming, Miller maintained, “whereas land use taxation is an administrative procedure.”
He agreed that taken by itself,' land use taxation won't save farmland. “But it is a tool, part of a total approach, that will aid in stopping conversion of farmland,” Miller said.
Jim Bankston interjected that application fees required for agricultural districts should help off-set the cost of legal advertisements for public hearings.
Supervisor chairman E. P. Luke explained that soil maps will be used with overlays to determine the soil classification which sets the value of property in land use. Property with a particular type of soil will be valued at the same level throughout the county, he emphasized. According to Luke, Rappahannock’s soil maps are accurate up to 200 feet. The 1981-82 budget includes funds for the overlays which are needed for ag districts whether or not a county-wide use value taxation ordinance is approved.
Supporting Documents
The supervisor chairman stressed that landowners applying for use value taxation will need supporting records to prove that their property has been in bona fide agricultural production for five years previous and meets all other standards for preferential tax treatment.
Without county-wide use value taxation, supervisor Dick Latham asked, what happens to the farmer with anywhere from five to 499 acres who can’t persuade adjoining property owners to
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