Agenda - 06-28-1994-IX-B - Laserfiche WebLink

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t 26 14. Would this mean the public has a right to come on the land-owners property? No. Even though the landowner sells the development rights to his/her land, it does not become public property.It is still the landowner's private property and subject to the laws of trespass.The general public cannot enter the property without the landowner's permission. 16. Could the property owner elect to lease his/her development rights instead of selling them? Yes.As part of the application process,a landowner may offer to lease his/her development rights. Such offers would be handled in the same manner as offers to sell. However, compensation for development rights leases would be based on a determination of cash rent values of comparable land. The term of any lease should be consistent with the program objective of long-term farmland protection. In Forsyth County, this period is generally 25 years. The lease should also include an option to purchase the development rights at a future date. 16. Could the property owner re-purchase his/her development rights? Yes. The purchase of development rights is intended to create areas with sufficient amounts of contiguous agricultural land to facilitate the permanent agricultural use of the land.While program activity will be directed to that goal, success is dependent on the voluntary participation of landowners. If a landowner or several owners of small tracts are the only participants in an area, the goal may not be achieved.The landowners could become landlocked by development, and agricultural activity may become impractical. In such situations, it would be in the best interest of the landowner and the public to allow re-purchase of the development rights.However,repurchase of development rights by a landowner would be considered as an unusual occurrence and would be in the sole discretion of the Board of Commissioners. To qualify for re-purchase, the original purchase must have occurred at least 25 years before the date of the re-purchase request.In addition,the development rights must have been purchased by and not donated to the County.Appraisals necessary to establish market and agricultural use values would be the responsibility of the landowner as well as all expenses associated with closing. 17. How would selling development rights affect the landowner's standing in the Preferential Assessment/Deferred Taxation Program? If the property is already enrolled in the Preferential Assessment/Deferred Taxation Program, selling the development rights will not affect the landowner's standing in the program. Neither would it change the tax assessment the landowner pays under that program, since he/she is already being taxed on what the State considers to be the"current use"or agricultural value of the property. If the landowner is not now in the program, selling the development rights would not change his/her ability to enter. If a landowner sold the development rights on his/her property and elected to leave the Preferential Assessment/Deferred Taxation Program, caution should be observed. Since the tax penalty for leaving the program is based on the current year taxes plus the three prior years,the landowner would want to wait at least four years. In so doing, any penalty would be based on the market value of the property less its development rights and should be equivalent to the use value. 18. What taxes would a landowner have to pay on the money he/she received for the development rights?