Want to save money on your property tax bill?

Then you need to learn more abour 'Conservation Use Covenant' !
 
Let's start with a definition - Owners of agricultural land, timberland and environmentally sensitive land may qualify for conservation use assessment under Georgia law. Please remember...this is different than a Conservation Easement. I will discuss that in a later article. The Georgia Revenue Commissioner has the responsibility of annually determining the values for ad valorem tax purposes of this type land and publishing rules and regulations to help county tax assessors determine the values of property that qualify for conservation use assessment. 

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. In some states, it is referred to as 'Current Use'.

      Benefits to Landowner       Landowners receive an ad valorem tax rate deduction for their property i.e. my property tax bill was reduced from $800 to $255 per year in Johnson County, GA

      Costs to Landowner - There are no direct costs to the landowner for entering into a CUVA covenant for forested lands or agricultural lands.   There are significant penalties for landowners who break the covenant before the end of the 10-year period. Owners who break their conservation use covenant must pay back to the taxing authorities twice the savings they received over the life of the covenant up to the point it was breached, plus any applicable interest.  If the property is sold during the covenant period, the new landowner must agree to continue the covenant or the tax penalty will be levied against the property as a lien.

Term - Landowners must promise to maintain their lands in the designated use (agriculture, forestry, or environmentally sensitive) for 10 years. Landowners can re-enroll after 10 years if they wish to remain in CUVA. Landowner must enroll between Jan 1 and April 1

Eligibility - Each county tax assessor’s office administers the program independently, so application requirements may vary among counties. Generally, a minimum of 10 acres is required for enrollment, but some counties have recently increased the minimum acreage to 25 acres. No more than 2,000 acres can be enrolled in CUVA by any one non-industrial, private landowner. Foreign citizens and foreign corporations are not eligible to enroll. The land must be kept in its qualifying use and cannot be used for any non-agricultural commercial business. To qualify, you must be a natural  citizen.

Landowner Initiation Contact your local county tax assessor’s office for applications and enrollment information. Applications for conservation use assessment must be filed with the county board of tax assessors on or before the last day for filing ad valorem tax returns in the county (usually April 1st). For more specifics on CUVA, refer to the Georgia Department of Revenue’s web page at   

                         www.etax.dor.ga.gov/PTD/cas/cuse/assmt.aspx.

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at          (706) 457-0090