What defines farmland?

By The News Virginian Staff

Published: May 19, 2008

Let’s see if we have this straight. Albemarle County allows rural landowners to defer a hunk of their real estate tax annually. That’s if they agree not to develop their property.

The deal, in theory, permits owners of this valuable property to use the land for “agricultural” purposes. The theory goes that without this tax deferment, farming would die out, and our pristine rural viewshed would be lost.

Unsurprisingly, this is a program that has been enthusiastically embraced by rural landowners. So much so that 60 percent, nearly two-thirds, of all the acreage in Albemarle County is in the program.

The tax shift from this program has more than doubled from $7.2 million in 2001 to $18.8 million in the current tax year. These are taxes that these landowners would otherwise have paid, that non-rural landowners pick up instead.

So for the rest of us who don’t happen to own this rural property, a portion of our tax bills offsets the deferments granted on 60 percent of the real estate in the county. Sounds fair, right? If all the low-income farm families and landowners out there had to pay taxes on all their land, they’d have to sell to developers, or so the lament goes. A further boo-hoo riff: Buyers have to pay back taxes for the previous five years when they purchase the property.

Last week, however, there was an outbreak of furrowed brows among the county supervisors about this program. At least one was worried about preserving the integrity of the word “agriculture.” Supervisor Sally Thomas, who has her own land in the tax-deferral program, says that some landowners are not really engaged in the agricultural scene.

Maybe cutting grass for animal feed isn’t really farming. But what about cutting and baling hay once a year? And is one timber-farming if one cuts a half-dozen trees annually? Are goat herds OK, but large pig farms not? If a landowner has a tractor, does that mean she’s a farmer? How about checking tax returns to see if farm income derived from rural property under the program meets a county-mandated threshold?

Obviously, this public conversation about the word “agriculture” may well lead us to a new department of Albemarle County government. One can readily envision a Rural Areas Tax-Deferral Compliance Office devoted to inspecting each rural piece of property in the program four times a year to verify agricultural activities that are permitted under the tax-deferral program. And of course, taxes will go up to pay for staff and equipment for this compliance program. And you-know-who will pick up the tab for that.

Instead, what’s needed here is quite clear: Require rural landowners to either put their land into a perpetual conservation easement, or pay full and fair taxes on it as assessed for present use. The supervisors will then have the opportunity to lower the tax rate for everyone.