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ia’s Commissioner of Revenue, taking into account the differences in assessment ratios before the statewide hundred percent assessment, reported that Loudoun’s average effective tax rate was over four times, Fauquier’s was nearly two times, and Fairfax’s was nearly six times that of Rappahanock!
I would say we are in an enviable position. And small-lot homeowners such as myself owe our high property values to those landowners who are willing to continue to farm.
Of course there are improvements that could be made in our county’s finances and programs. But that is the same with all counties. What we must not do is lose that which has made Rappahannock what it is by trying to squeeze a few more dollars from our farmland. I am reminded of the goose that laid the golden eggs. I believe the analogy is clear.
Our farmland is not to be taken for granted. When a farmer can no longer make money because of high taxes or other conditions, that farmland will be sold. And housing developers are willing to pay more for farmland than another farmer. And the more houses that are built, the higher the taxes to support them. And the more farmers, who are unable to make a living. And so on...
“Land use” taxation, whether countywide or in Agricultural and Forestal Districts, will not by itself prevent Fairfax County from creeping into Rappahannock. But for many farmers, this tax incentive to remain farming or growing trees is the difference between making it, and not making it.
When you look at the direct fiscal benefit of agricultural land, and the indirect benefits to all property values, and to the quality of our lives, “land use” taxation is a very small price to pay for a very large beneift.
The fact is clear: all local governments are suffering from fiscal shortages. But it is the citizens in the stable, rural counties such as Rappahannock who are ahead of the game. Super-inflated land values and resultant high taxes and costs of government are fine if you are in the business of buying and selling land. But if you want to live on it and grow things on it until you pass on, the only evidence of its development value you see will be how it affects your tax bill. There is not a single instance of a county which reduced its tax bills by giving up on farms and seeking development, whether residential, industrial, or commercial.
96.7%