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year, he reported, attributing the increased tax burden to “the conversion of open land to subdivisions.”
Citing an earlier study of Rappahannock’s fiscal structure conducted by PEC, Supervisor Mike Massie recalled that it showed farm land receiving 17 cents worth of services for every $1 in taxes, the surplus going to cover the deficit from residential house and lot, which required $1.22 in services for every $1 in taxes. “It looks to me like the more land we have in open space, the cheaper everybody’s taxes are going to be.”
And with ag districts, the county has a commitment that the land will stay in its present state for the time the district is established, while in the general use value taxation program, a landowner may drop out and subdivide at any time with the only penalty being payment of a roll-back tax, administrative assistant John McCarthy said.
A property owner may petition local government for permission to withdraw from an ag district, but that approval has not been readily forthcoming from Virginia’s Boards of Supervisors, Mr. Dennis pointed out. “The only other way to get out is to die, and then the heirs may take the property out.”
“If landowners are willing to lock in to 10 years, then I think that’s the way to go,” said Mr. Massie. Based on the affirmative nods from his fellow board members, a majority of the supervisors joined him in thinking that ag districts, whether new or renewed, should be established for a decade in Rappahannock County.
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