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laws allowing local governments the option of taxing farmland and forest much less than other land. Instead of basing the real property tax on the sale price of land, a county or city could choose to tax open land based on its likely farm income.
When they passed the law, the General Assembly said the purpose of the law was to encourage the preservation of farmland and forest, by reducing the pressure to sell or develop land because of pressure from taxes. If, like in Rappahannock, a county opts for a land use program, landowners with big enough parcels who fit the state rules have a right to the lower tax valuation and the county cannot say no.
Land use does make it much easier for farmers to keep their land in farming and in the family. But it only takes away some of the pressure to sell and develop. A big landowner is perfectly free to keep the land in land use for awhile, then take it out later. If the land is developed anyway, all land use does is cut the taxes of big landowners at the expense of little ones. Some of the big landowners are farmers and old, established local families, and so some of that tax benefit goes
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