Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 7 · column 1 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
Tax
From Page A1
totals more than $570 million and would bring in more than $3.3 million in additional tax revenue if it were taxed at the county’s rate of 59 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The additional revenue would boost Rappahannock’s real-estate tax revenue, currently at $9.2 million, by 36 percent.
But if land was taken out of agricultural production, what would be the cost to Rappahannock?
Flint Hill resident Bill Freitag recounted how a friend’s family farm was sold off in the 1960s in Loudoun County before the state enacted the land-use system. He said parts of the farm had to be sold off each year just to pay the taxes on it. Without land use, the same thing could happen in Rappahannock, he said.
The state enacted the first version of the land-use system in the 1970s. Rappahannock adopted it in 1982.
“If you look at it on the basis of costs, an acre of farmland doesn’t cost much, an acre with a house on it does,” County Administrator John McCarthy said.
He said any preferential tax treatment, whether it is for farmers, the elderly or the disabled, shifts some burden on those who do not qualify for the program. He said he realizes some people not in the land-use program question what they get out of it.
“One of the benefits is to live in a place with a lot of open space,” McCarthy said. “Do you have to live on it to enjoy it? Some say yes, some say no.”
McCarthy said Rappahannock could choose not to use the land-use system. The Board of Supervisors would have to vote to get rid of
67.9%