Rural Nelson Meeting Minutes, Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003
Purchase of Development Rights Program
NEXT MEETING: FEBRUARY 4TH, 2004-7:30 P.M.
Conny Roussos opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and welcomed us all. We
introduced ourselves. Jimmy Powell was present to talk about the
Purchase of Development Rights Program. He is President of the
Albemarle County Farm Bureau. As a third generation farmer he has put
his own cattle farm in the program. When his grandfather died he left
two thirds of the farm to Jimmy's father and one third to his uncle.
His father died in 1989. Jimmy Powell wasn't sure that farming was what
he wanted to do, but it must be in his blood as that's what he ended up
doing. He was able to take part in the family farm tax exemption when
he inherited from his mother, and was able to buy out his uncle's family
when his uncle died by using the Purchase of Development Rights Program.
The program ranks an individual using a point system, which gives an
advantage to farmers whose income level is modest. A minimum of 15
points is necessary to be eligible for the program. He had 48 points.
Income is used to decide how much of the easement the county is going to
fund. If your income is $50,000 or less they will fund 100% of the
easement. Jimmy's easement was funded in the first year of the program,
when eleven people applied and four were chosen. He worked out a deal
with his relatives whereby they got the money and he got the farm. He
pointed out that if you go this route you need a really good tax attorney.
The county pays for the appraisal process, and then is basically paying
you for not developing your land. In a pure easement you get tax
advantages but no money, but for PDR's you get money for the agreement
that you cannot develop the land but no tax advantages. In both cases
it is an attachment to the land deed, which exists in perpetuity. His
PDR is held by the County of Albemarle and the Virginia Outdoors
Foundation. He has kept four development rights on his land. If he
sells that land, it could not be further divided. These deeds are
closely monitored to make sure the easements are honored.
The county appraises your land (say for $800,000) and then compares it
to comparable land actually under conservation easement (say worth
$700,000). They will pay you the $100,000 difference, because you are
giving up the right to develop your property. Jimmy felt that this had
been a very valuable tool for him as a landowner and a farmer, and for
the county in order to keep open space while under pressure from
population growth.
Albemarle County had a funding cut in the program this year, but a
foundation has brought the available funds back up to close to
$1,000,000 per year available to buy PDR's. There is no minimum
restriction on the amount of land you need to apply to the program,
although the more property you have the more points you will get in the
ranking system. Jimmy feels that there is pretty broad support for this
program politically across the county. If you are a full time farmer
you get more points than a hobby farmer, but they can also apply. Jimmy
admitted that it is tough being a farmer, sometimes your return doesn't
allow you to break even, the weather is a boon some years and a
liability others, but you just have to keep at it.
Each county can structure its development rights program differently.
In Albemarle County, for instance, you get points in the ranking system
just for being in the Monticello view shed, or for being on a
mountaintop. It is possible to put farm buildings, ponds or secondary
residences (2,500 square feet or less) on property that is in the PDR
Program. Jimmy was asked if Nelson County would pass such a program.
Connie Brennan said there are several county officials interested in it,
but there is no money at the moment. Al Weed pointed out that if the
county has enacted it, it could always be funded down the road. Conny
said that is why they wrote it into the Comprehensive Plan. There is a
lot of information on PDR's on the Albemarle County website: go to
"Planning" and then to "ACE (Acquisition of Conservation Easements)
Program."
The next Rural Nelson meeting will be Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 at
7:30 p.m. at the office. There will be no January meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Buford Hitz
OF INTEREST:
- Sunday, December 7 Christmas Parade in Lovingston - 3:00pm
- Tuesday, December 9 at 7:00pm at The Nelson Center - Nelson County
Museum of Rural History Workshop - "The Financial Concept" - Speaker:
Marcy Horwitz, Museum Development Consultant
Kim T. Cash
Field Officer
Rural Nelson, Inc.
P. O. Box 401
(622 Front Street)
Lovingston, VA 22949
434.263.5000
Email: info@ruralnelson.org
www.ruralnelson.org
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