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Reassessment: What's the end game?
WARM SPRINGS - The reassessment of real property in Bath County is still months from completion, and the final numbers for many landowners and the county as a whole will not be known until June. But the bottom line assessed value on the notices recently sent out is far from the whole story of how much, if any, increase in taxes many landowners will pay.
Indeed, some landowners, including a few who spoke to supervisors Tuesday night, may see no increase in taxes on all or part of their land no matter what the new assessed value. This is because the county has three mechanisms in place allowing landowners to avoid paying taxes on the full fair market value of the property.
All there of these options are provided in state law and have been adopted by the Bath County Board of Supervisors. They are land use, conservation easements and relief for the elderly. None of the supervisors and no one speaking Tuesday mentioned these options for lowering the tax bite on county land.
According to Commissioner of the Revenue Leta Norfleet, the county offers farmers a land use taxable value of $400 an acre for all land used for agriculture or horticulture. This would include pasture land and hay fields along with tillable land.
The $400 value is applied to the land for tax purposes regardless of what value the appraiser places on the land. The notices mailed out last week by the appraiser note the appraised value listed is before any land use or other exemptions.
Supervisor Percy Nowlin pointed out on Wednesday forested mountain land not suitable for pasture "got left out" of the agriculture exemption. Some of those complaining Tuesday own such land, which many said is too steep to walk on let only develop. Yet the appraised value of much of that land has skyrocketed, they say.
There is an option for such land, said Norfleet and Nowlin. Any land placed under a conservation easement automatically qualifies for the land use valuation of $400 per acre. If the conservation easement is placed on the entire tract, then it applies to everything including forested, steep mountain land.
Conservation easements restrict future development and use of the land. Such restrictions are feared to reduce the value of the property on the market and the tax break reflects that reduced market potential. Nowlin said that isn't always the case. "Assessors tell me it (conservation easement) does not affect the value of land." In fact, some buyers look for land protected by easement. Even so, the county taxes all property under easement at the $400 per acre valuation, regardless of what it recently sold for or how it is appraised.
For property owners 65 and older or permanently disabled, the county offers additional tax breaks. Income limits apply including the total value of assets. A sliding scale applies which can provide as much as 100 percent relief from property taxes.
A primary residence and 10 acres is automatically exempt, Norfleet said. Tax on additional property is based on income and total assets.
Taxpayers must apply for all of these tax breaks and conservation easements require a deeded easement normally prepared by an attorney.
Nowlin said Bath County provides the top amount of relief for land use, conservation and elderly allowed by the state. "We've done all we can to protect our citizens," he said.
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