The County of Northumberland finds that the
preservation of real estate for agricultural, horticultural, forest
or open-space purposes is in the public interest to promote a balanced
economy and ameliorate pressures which force conversion of such real
estate to more intensive uses and which are attributable in part to
the assessment of such real estate at values incompatible with its
use and preservation and, having heretofore adopted a land use plan,
hereby ordains that such real estate shall be taxed in accordance
with the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 32 of Title 58.1 of the
Code of Virginia and of this article.
The use value and fair market value of any qualifying
property shall be placed on the land book before delivery to the Treasurer,
and the tax for the next succeeding tax year shall be extended from
the use value.
There is hereby imposed a rollback tax, in an
amount equal to the amount, if any, by which the taxes paid or payable
on the basis of the valuation, assessment and taxation under this
article are exceeded by the taxes that would have been paid or payable
on the basis of the valuation, assessment or taxation of other real
estate in the county in the year of the change and in each of the
five years immediately preceding the year of the change, plus ten-percent
interest. Such additional taxes shall only be assessed against that
portion of real estate which no longer qualifies for assessment and
taxation on the basis of use.
The provisions of Title 58.1 of the Code of
Virginia applicable to local levies and real estate assessment and
taxation shall be applicable to assessments and taxation hereunder
mutatis mutandis, including, without limitation to, provisions relating
to tax liens and the correction of erroneous assessments, and for
such purposes the rollback taxes shall be considered to be deferred
real estate taxes.
This amended article shall be effective for
all tax years beginning January 1, 1994.