Loudoun Commissioner of the Revenue Robert S. Wertz Jr. wants agricultural property owners to know about changes to the criteria to participate in the Land Use Assessment Program, which will make it easier for landowners to qualify.
The Land Use Assessment Program provides for the deferral of real estate taxes on property that meets certain agricultural, horticultural, forestry or open space use criteria. Eligible land is valued and taxed based on its use versus being valued and taxed at its fair market value.
The standards of qualification prescribed by Virginia’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services have been relaxed beginning Thursday, October 15, 2020. Until now property owners were required to devote the property to agricultural or horticultural use for five consecutive years before they could make application into the Land Use Assessment Program. The revised standards will permit qualification into the program without a five-year history so long as the land is devoted to the bona fide production for commercial sale of agricultural or horticultural crops, including plants and animals. This change applies to new enrollees in the program only and does not affect the requirement for current program participants to provide documentation demonstrating qualified use upon renewal every sixth year.
Landowners interested in applying may obtain a land use application and find additional information about the program online at loudoun.gov/landuse or by calling the Exemptions & Deferrals Division of the Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue at 703-737-8557.
The regular filing deadline for the Land Use Assessment Program is Monday, November 2, 2020.
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