Per Code of Virginia §58.1-3231 (Taxation, Chapter 32, Real Property tax): Land in forest/ag districts “shall be eligible for the use valuation and assessment whether or not a local land use plan or local ordinance…has been adopted.” In other words, there is no potential windfall in tax revenue for Mr. O’Brien’s populist agenda from this source.
Similar protections exist for conservation easement properties under Virginia Code §10.1-1011, section B. Land value “shall be based only on uses…permitted under the terms of the easement and shall not include any value attributable to the uses or potential uses …that have been terminated by the easement.” Again, there is no potential windfall in tax revenue from these properties should Fluvanna do away with land use taxation.
Finally, all those large timber parcels that Mr. O’Brien has cast his eye on are ultimately subject to the Virginia Forest Products tax, Virginia Code §58.1, Chapter 16. This tax is collected at the mill, processing facility or port of embarkation (if sent out of state) and is paid into the Commonwealth’s general treasury. Since the Commonwealth has reserved the right to tax forest products to itself, the county has no potential tax windfall from this source either.
