Not all good news will naturally catch your eye. Some news can
slide by, like the fact
that the 1997 conservation-use (current-use) valuation tables
for land are ready.
That may not look like something that would interest you. But if
you own any farm,
forest or environmentally sensitive land, it could be big.
The Georgia Department of Revenue developed these tables.
They’re tools for
landowners, but in some ways they help everybody.
“Conservation-use valuation keeps land in farms and forests,”
said Coleman
Dangerfield, an economist with the University of Georgia
Extension Service. “The
result is more open and green areas for all to enjoy.”
The program sets values that reflect farm and forest uses on
some land. It may also
lower the landowner’s county ad valorem tax bill.
In return for a covenant with the county, the landowner agrees
to keep the land in its
farm or forest use for 10 years.
“Covenants are between qualified landowners and county
governments,” Dangerfield
said. “They allow qualifying farm and forest lands to be valued
for county ad valorem
taxes based on current (conservation) use. Fair market value is
the approach normally
used.”
Sign-up for the program is through the county tax assessor
office before the property
tax-return filing deadline. It’s March 1 or April 1, depending
on the county.
The county
extension office has
two Georgia maps. Each has a table with the
conservation-use land values.
The tax assessor also has the maps and tables and can tell about
program details and
how to sign up. These tables show the value per acre for all
classes of land.
The maps and tables show the valuation areas under the original
rules and the revised
rules used after 1992. Each year the DOR revises the tables. The
legislature sets the
guidelines for the changes.
To learn more about the program, get Extension Service Bulletin
1089, “Tax Incentives
for the Georgia Landowner.” It’s $1 per copy at the county
extension office.
The publication tells about the ’91 timber tax law that appeared
to offer tax breaks to
large timber firms and big farms. It covers the tax issues of
the conservation-use
program, too. The one-time county ad valorem tax on timber at
harvest is also
included.
In 1990, the Georgia General Assembly passed House Resolution
836. The measure
offered a constitutional amendment to allow the taxation of farm
and forest land to be
revised.
After Georgia voters passed the amendment, H.B. 283 became law
in 1991. That gave
the means to qualify and set values for land under a current-use
concept for 1992.
In early 1993, H.B. 66 improved the means to qualify and value
land for 1993 and
beyond.
