Agenda - 04-21-1998 - 10a - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 Some of the original legislative goals, such as preserving the family farm, have been met. Property R taxes have not forced farm families to abandon the farm. The rollback provision for deferred taxes, originally thought to be a deterrent to conversion of the land to other non-qualifying uses or to selling the property has not proven to be much of a deterrent. If a property owner has an opportunity to make a nice profit on the sale of his land, paying the taxes due, including interest on the deferred amount accruing over the last three years, has slowed few, if any, in deciding whether or not to sell. (The preceding section of this report has been excerpted from the North Carolina Department of Revenue's publication "Assessor's Manual for the Administration of the Present-Use Value Program, Fall 1997') LAND IN THE USE-VALUE TAXATION PROGRAM IN ORANGE COUNTY Following is a detailed summary of data related to the Orange County "Use Value Taxation Program". The compiled comes from existing hard copy and electronic data and represents the most accurate and extensive information currently available from our records. The summary has been developed in a joint effort between the tax office and the Planning Department (Don Belk). Orange County, as with most counties in North Cazolina, has chosen to employ the per acre present-use values that are developed annually by North Carolina State University based on various soil types. During each four year revaluation cycle, the Orange County Board of Commissioners adopts a "schedule of values" that incorporates the then current per acre value for each soil type. The change in total land in the Use-Value Taxation Program was calculated for year-end 1996 and yeaz-end 1997. At yeaz-end 1996, 108,190 acres were enrolled in the Use-Value Taxation program. At year-end 1997, 110,814 acres were enrolled, reflecting a net gain of 2,624 acres. As the following table shows, all townships experienced a net gain in total use-value acreage. The exception was Chapel Hill Township, with a decrease of 714 acres. Bingham Township showed the lazgest gain in use-value acreage, with 1,236 additional acres. (Change in acreage calculations aze based on end of yeaz 96 compared to current year 1998, two years. However, the picture is not accurate since at yeaz end 96 any use program properties that had split in 96 would be split status, not active status, and therefore would not show up in the calculations. The only accurate way to get a count from the computer would be to generate the data as of Mazch 99 and compaze those numbers to these 98 numbers. (This way we will be comparing apples and apples.) The total number of pazcels enrolled in the Use-Value Taxation Program stood at 2,421 at YE 1997, an increase of 126 over the YE 1996 total of 2,295. Hillsborough was the sole township with a decline in the number of pazcels in use-value, from 118 at YE 1996 to 107 at YE 1997.