Land

Land

From Page A1

The Virginia Land Use Assessment Law of 1971 permits local governments to adopt a program of special tax assessments for agricultural and forested property. Participation by counties in the program is completely voluntary. Rappahannock instituted its program in 1982.

The State Land Evaluation Advisory Council (SLEAC) directly manages the program. Made up of government tax specialists; agriculture, forestry and conservation experts; and agriculture scientists and Extension specialists, from Virginia Tech, it defines requirements and establishes specific tax assessments for properties by usage and soil type.

None of the counties are permitted to establish their own tax assessments, although each county does set its own tax rate per $100 of valuation.

Counties may institute regulations that are more lenient than the state requirements, but cannot make the rules more stringent. A comparison of Rappahannock’s program with that of Fauquier, Warren and Culpeper counties revealed a high degree of consistency among the programs.

For the most part, all the counties reviewed relied heavily on the state mandates, applying them essentially as written for agriculture, horticulture and forestry categories. Fauquier County, alone of those reviewed, permitted applications to be based on the additional “open space” category.

In the face of ever-increasing population pressures, the law focuses on the importance of preserving agricultural, horticultural, forested land, and open spaces. It encourages conservation of natural resources to prevent erosion, protect water supplies, preserve natural scenic beauty, provide outdoor recreation, protect historic places of interest, and to promote effective land-use planning and administration.