RSS Feed |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Do you qualify for conservation use assessment? Owners of agricultural land, timberland and environmentally sensitive land may qualify for conservation use assessment under O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-7.4. Conservation use property is assessed at 40% of current use value which gives a reduced assessment to the owner of this type property when compared to other property assessed at 40% of fair market value. This favorable tax treatment is designed to protect these property owners from being pressured by the property tax burden to convert their land from agricultural use to residential or commercial use, hence the name "conservation use" assessment. In return for the favorable tax treatment, the property owner must keep the land undeveloped in a qualifying use for a period of ten years or incur stiff penalties. Owners who breach their conservation use covenant must pay back to the taxing authorities twice the savings they have received over the life of the covenant up to the point it was breached. Requirements include: (1) Maximum of 2,000 acres. (2) Property must remain devoted to qualifying use. (3) Barns and silos also qualify. (4) Owner must be natural or naturalized citizens or family owner farm entity (5) Eligible uses of the property: Raising, harvesting, or storing crops; feeding, breeding, or managing livestock or poultry; froducing plants, trees, fowl, or animals; or production of aquaculture, horticulture, floriculture, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, and apiarian products.
For more information contact the Tax Assessor's office or visit the Georgia Department of Revenue website at www.etax.dor. ga. gov.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
