farm conservation

[fairplay]

Before he died I tried my best to help Jim Goode get his land in the farm conservation program to help them on their taxes. He had 6+ acres in his name and the adjoining land belonging to his offspring totals 30 acres. I thought sure they qualified but the tax assessors office says he had to have ten acres minimum in his name, no exceptions.

If that is the case how does one explain how our legislature Mr. Jenkins has his land in the covenant and he only has 6.8 acres. Our high school principal Mr. Rohobaugh has his in the covenant and only has 7.1 acres and Steve Odom only has 7.1 acres and he is on it. This I found out and I just downloaded the union county map site yesterday.

I am in the covenant and have been for 13 or 14 years and I have over the 10 acres they say is the minimum, but if the tax assessors office can bend the rules for the favored sons, then all of the taxpayers have to pay more because we have to cover the loss in taxes. What worries me is how many more are there? Just your little ol wine maker pointing out the injustice in our government.

[bubbadebubba]

FYI::

SPECIALIZED AND PREFERENTIAL ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS

Two general types of specialized of preferential assessment programs are available for certain owners of certain types of property. One of these programs authorizes assessment at 30% instead of 40% of the fair market value for certain agricultural properties being used for bona fide agricultural purposes.

The second type of preferential program is the Conservation Use program which provides that certain agricultural property, timber and land property, environmentally sensitive property, or residential transitional property is to be valued and assessed for ad valorem tax purposes at its current use value rather than its fair market value. For more information on Conservation Use we have included the following Information.
WHAT IS CONSERVATION USE?

Conservation Use was approved by an overwhelming majority of Georgia voters in an effort to encourage agricultural landowners to keep their land in production in exchange for favorable tax treatment. 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 on incur stiff penalties.

Applications for current 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 (April 1). A $10.00 recording fee must accompany all applications.
QUALIFICATIONS

* Owner must be an individual or family farm corporation, estate, trust or non-profit organization.
* Owner agrees to maintain the property in a qualifying use of ''good faith'' production of agricultural products or timber for 10 years.
* Owner cannot have over 2,000 acres statewide in the Conservation Use Program.
* The Tax Assessors Office may request additional information regarding the use of the property if the office feels it is necessary to determine if the property qualifies for the exemption. Information that may be requested is Schedule F (Profit or Loss from Farm Income), Form 4562 Depreciation, or Crop Production Records the owner maintains. (mandatory on tracts less than 10 acres)

CONSERVATION USE VALUES

* Conservation values are set by the State of Georgia and cannot be appealed by the taxpayer, however the Board of Tax Assessors must still maintain the fair market value on the property which may still be appealed by the taxpayer.
* The Conservation values established by the state are made up of a combination of the capitalized income that could be produced from the land and market value. The ratio is 65% income and 35% fair market value.
* The maximum amount that conservation values may be increased is 3% per year or a maximum of 34.39% over the 10-year Covenant.
* The amount of savings on your tax bill cannot be determined at this time. The valuation for conservation use is available on your property upon request. You then can compare the fair market value to the conservation use value.
* Agricultural buildings may be included in the covenant. Although, the current values will not change on the buildings, these buildings would be subject only to the 3% per year maximum increase.

BREACH ON CONTRACT

* If the owner breaks the Covenant a penalty of twice the taxes saved by the taxpayer will be imposed and interest at the rate of 1% per month will be assessed if not immediately reported.
* If the Covenant is broken as a result of death or eminent domain (condemnation) no penalty will be assessed.
* If the Covenant is broken as a result of medically demonstrable illness or foreclosure, the penalty will be the amount of taxes saved for the current year only.
* Leases or contracts for billboard signs, cellular towers, or any type of non-qualifying use will breach the Covenant and all penalties will apply. Hunting leases are allowed.
* If the property is sold, and if the purchaser continues using the property as it was originally covenanted then no penalty would be assessed. Purchaser must sign covenant agreeing to no change in use. However, the taxpayer should be aware that if the use changes during the 10-year period all penalties would apply.

OTHER FACTS

* If the owner desires to omit a portion of a tract from the Covenant they must present to the Assessors' satisfaction a clearly defined description of the portion under the Covenant and a clearly defined description of the portion not under the Covenant.
* The property owner may give up to 5.0 acres to a relative within the 4th degree of civil reckoning provided that relative builds a house on the property received within one year and resides in the house for the remainder of the 10-year period.
* Property is allowed to lie fallow or idle for up to 2 years within any 5-year period.
* Property owners over age 65 who renew their Covenant may elect after 3 years into the second 10-year Covenant to terminate the Covenant by filing in writing a declaration with the Tax Assessors' office.

Each of these specialized or preferential programs requires the property owner to covenant with the board of tax assessors to maintain the property in its qualified use for at least 10 years in order to qualify for the preference. The Board of Tax Assessors can explain the ownership and use restrictions regarding property qualifying for either of these programs. Substantial penalties result if the covenant is broken. Additional information is available at:

[bubbadebubba]

This part:::


""Information that may be requested is Schedule F (Profit or Loss from Farm Income), Form 4562 Depreciation, or Crop Production Records the owner maintains. (mandatory on tracts less than 10 acres) ""

indicates the Assessor's office should have the information on file and, being public records, should be accessible.

[bubbadebubba]

""pointing out the injustice in our government.""

And it's more than injustice, it's downright favoritism and cronyism.

And it shows the laughable part of property equalization and assessment.

[bubbadebubba]

""indicates the Assessor's office should have the information on file and, being public records, should be accessible.""

I was wrong with the above sentence::::

§ 48-5-314. Confidentiality of taxpayer records; exceptions; penalties


(a) (1) All records of the county board of tax assessors which consist of materials other than the return obtained from or furnished by an ad valorem taxpayer shall be confidential and shall not be subject to inspection by any person other than authorized personnel of appropriate tax administrators. As an illustration of the foregoing, materials which are confidential shall include, but shall not be limited to, taxpayers' accounting records, profit and loss statements, income and expense statements, balance sheets, and depreciation schedules. Such information shall remain confidential when it is made part of an appeal file. Nothing in this Code section, however, shall prevent any disclosure necessary or proper to the collection of any tax in any administrative or court proceeding.

(2) Records which consist of materials containing information gathered by personnel of the county board of tax assessors, such as field cards, shall not be confidential and are subject to inspection at all times during office hours. The provisions of this paragraph shall not remove the confidentiality of materials such as are specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(3) Failure of the county board of tax assessors to make available records which are not confidential as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be a misdemeanor.

(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully furnishes information which is confidential under this Code section to a person who is not authorized by law to receive such information shall upon conviction be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00.

[bubbadebubba]

All one needs are the 100 signatures of landholders to go to court::

§ 48-5-296. Removal from office on petition of freeholders; appeals


Whenever by petition to the judge of the superior court any 100 or more freeholders of the county allege that any member of the county board of tax assessors is disqualified or is not properly and impartially discharging his duties or is discriminating in favor of certain citizens or classes of citizens and against others, the judge shall cite the member to appear before him at a time and place to be fixed in the citation, such time to be not less than 20 nor more than 40 days from the date of the presentation of the petition, and to answer to the petition. A copy of the petition shall be attached to the citation and service of the citation may be made by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or constable of this state. The officer making the service shall serve copies and return the original petition and citation to the clerk of the court as other process is returned. At the time and place fixed in the citation, unless postponed for reasonable cause, the judge shall hear and determine the matter without a jury and shall render such judgment and order as may be right and proper, either dismissing the petition or removing the offending member of the county board of tax assessors from office and declaring a vacancy in the office. If either party to the controversy is dissatisfied with the judgment and order of the court, the party may appeal the issue as in other cases.

Before doing this, a person might want to check the Judge's exemption claim.

[bubblebutt2]

I spent two hours this morning and found 7 people that have their land in the covenant not including the ones mentioned above and I totaled the land value alone and it came up to almost a million dollars (910 thousand) Thats over 5,000 in taxes that we are cheated out of. What concerns me is how many more of these favored sons are excluded from taxes when they shouldn't be. Just those 7 people have cost every living sole in the county 2.50 and it isn't right. What really ticks me off is one of the ones benefiting from this reduction is on the board of equalization and to me that is height of hypocrisy.

[sometimeman]

Go to the Magistrate court and fill out an application for a warrant for his arrest.
Bring friends to the warrant hearing with video cameras.
Involve the whole corrupt Union County courthouse in the mess. Expose them ALL

[bubbadebubba]

Aug 23, 2008 14:21:12 GMT -4 bubblebutt2 said:

I spent two hours this morning and found 7 people that have their land in the covenant not including the ones mentioned above and I totaled the land value alone and it came up to almost a million dollars (910 thousand) Thats over 5,000 in taxes that we are cheated out of. What concerns me is how many more of these favored sons are excluded from taxes when they shouldn't be. Just those 7 people have cost every living sole in the county 2.50 and it isn't right. What really ticks me off is one of the ones benefiting from this reduction is on the board of equalization and to me that is height of hypocrisy.

bubble-I have sent you a personal message, please respond.

thanks