CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 01/31/02

You May Already Qualify for a Tax Break

Want lower property taxes? Many Georgia landowners may already qualify for a tax break that's been in effect for a decade. They just don't know it.

Georgia introduced the "Conservation Use Valuation" taxation program for qualified property in 1992. CUV property is assessed at 40 percent of the current-use value. That can be considerably less than property assessed at 40 percent of fair market value.

This favorable tax treatment is designed to protect property owners from being pressured by the property tax burden to convert their land from agricultural or forest use to residential or commercial use.

CUV Requirements

To distinguish CUV from fair market values, Georgia law requires the CUV to be:

  • Determined by a formula which considers income potential based on soil productivity and market sales for different regions in the state.
  • Calculated by the Georgia Department of Revenue. The DOR, in turn, annually distributes a table of values to each county in the state.
CUV Property Classes

Three different classes of property can qualify for conservation-use valuations:

  • Agricultural and forest property. CUVs for these properties are calculated annually by the DOR for farm lands and woodlands and distributed to the county tax assessors.
  • Environmentally sensitive property. CUVs for environmentally sensitive CUV properties are determined by using the forest table of values. Local assessors will take the forest property description for the lowest productivity class and use the same value.
  • Residential transitional. This class is unique. The CUV is determined by the local tax assessors. The primary goal of valuing residential transitional properties is to remove the influence of location and development from the value.
10-Year Covenant

In return for the favorable tax treatment, the property owner must keep the land undeveloped in a qualifying use for 10 years. Owners who breach their CUV covenant must pay back twice the savings they have received.

Applications for CUV 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. The last day is April 1 in most Georgia counties.

Specially trained staff appraisers of the Georgia Property Tax Division set CUVs after consulting with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics Service, Forestry Commission, Department of Natural Resources and Cooperative Extension Service.

Setting CUV Values

They set the values by a statutory design that takes mostly into account the ability of the soil to grow certain agricultural commodities. But the design also factors in the typical selling price when lands are sold from farmer to farmer and not from farmer to developer.

If you want to know if your Georgia property qualifies for CUV, contact your county tax assessor now for the sign-up period that opened Jan. 1.

The University of Georgia Extension Service office in your county is a good source of information. Further property tax information is available on-line through the UGA Warnell School of Forest Resources. Look for "Forest Economics and Taxes" in the "Information Library" section under "Service and Outreach."

Or, visit the Georgia DOR's Web site (www2.state.ga.us/departments/dor/ptd/adm/taxguide/ rights.html).

Coleman Dangerfield is an extension forestry economist with the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forest Resources.

Experts/Sources:
Coleman W. Dangerfield Jr.
Bob Izlar
PeriodicalCicada BroodXIX 2011 CAES News
Georgia's Brood XIX is here: Periodical cicadas make their mark on the Southeast 05/15/24 Jordan Powers
There is no doubt about it: The periodical cicadas have arrived. There is no doubt about it: the periodical cicadas have arrived. “Brood XIX (Brood 19) is Georgia’s only 13-year cicada. The Great Southern Brood is the largest periodical cicada brood in North America, covering at least a dozen states in the Southeast,” said Nancy Hinkle, professor in the University of Georgia Department of Entomology. “This year, millions of periodical cicadas are emerging in Georgia from now until Memorial Day.”
Riley Forrestall is a third-year student studying ecology and plant biology. For his second year presenting at CURO, Forrestall focused on the role of hover flies in pollinator communities. CAES News
CURO ignites passion for research with student symposium 05/14/24 Olivia Randall
University of Georgia undergraduate students came together to showcase their individual research projects and achievements on April 8-9 at the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium. For 25 years, the CURO Symposium has served as an opportunity to highlight the breadth and depth of undergraduate research across multiple disciplines. CURO enables undergraduates to engage in faculty-mentored research as early as their first year, regardless of discipline, major, or GPA.
During the final session of the 2024 Rural Engagement Workshop cohort members had time to interact with some of the animals at the UGA Livestock Instructional Arena. (Photo by Baker Owens) CAES News
Program increases collaboration for rural engagement 05/13/24 Roy Parry
The interdisciplinary Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty, launched by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost S. Jack Hu and Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Jennifer Frum, brings together academic faculty and public service faculty. This partnership expands the impact of UGA’s research and ties it to practical applications in rural communities across Georgia.
Associate Dean for Extension Laura Perry Johnson and CAES Professor Stanley Culpepper at Ponder Farm in Tifton, Georgia. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski) CAES News
CAES associate dean for Extension set to retire after 35 years of service 05/09/24 Emily Cabrera
At the end of a 35-year career with the University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Associate Dean for Extension Laura Perry Johnson reflects on the journey that has taken her from her home on the farm to a lifetime of helping farmers. Johnson, affectionately known as “LPJ,” recently shared some of the lessons she has learned from a lifetime in agricultural education.
AGL class 2022 24 CAES News
UGA program empowers leaders in Georgia’s agricultural and forestry industries 05/07/24 Jordan Powers
After completing 106 sessions, learning from 122 expert speakers and completing more than 220 hours of educational content over 18 months, 25 leaders in two of Georgia’s largest industries — agriculture and forestry — are prepared to lead their industries thanks to the Advancing Georgia’s Leaders in Agriculture and Forestry program. The 2022-24 cohort was selected from more than 90 nominations, 60 applications and 40 interviews for the program, which is offered by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Office of Learning and Organizational Development.
The new Tifton Integrative Precision Agriculture Research, Education and Demonstration Laboratory will be the first in the Southeast to provide state-of-the-art collaborative spaces, top-of-the-line autonomous equipment and job training for the next generation of agricultural leaders. CAES News
UGA-Tifton demonstration lab to fuel innovation in precision agriculture 05/06/24 Jordan Powers
At the University of Georgia Tifton campus, the new Tifton Integrative Precision Agriculture Research, Education and Demonstration Laboratory will be the first of its kind in the Southeast to provide state-of-the-art collaborative spaces, top-of-the-line autonomous equipment and job training for the next generation of agricultural leaders. The $3 million project will include a working lab, electronic labs and office spaces to increase collaboration among graduate students, scientists and industry.