Food Hub gets some press

$1.5 million annual profit? Ain't no way!

That's a $29,000 profit each week.

And even if they do realize a $29,000 profit each week sooner or later, why should the taxpayers subsidize them right now?

That's exactly what should happen. Albemarle County tax payers should not be expected to fund any and every good idea that comes along. That's the private sectors job. It may well be true that Nelson County farmers may benefit by having their products sold to the larger market in Albemarle, but then, what have their farmers been doing with their products up until now? Is there any reason why the farmers could not have formed their own coop at their own expenses? Did the farmers come to the people at Food Hub and request this service because they desperately neeeded it or did the people at the Food Hub go recruit the farmers because they desperately needed it?

Hey Wondermonkey, last time I checked, capital gains are paid to the federal and state governments, not local governments, so there is no sharing locally in the profit a farmer makes when he sells out to developers.

Land Use was not to "correct" a mistake in the constitution. Everything should be valued at 100%. How it's taxed is another matter. As with many laws, Land Use was intended to encourage and promote certain behavior.

In Albemarle, the few (less than 3,000 Land Use owners) benefit at the expense of the many (94,000).

BTW, there are plenty of hobby farmers and faux farmers in Albemarle County and there are plenty of folks who own vanity farms. They should not receive the Land Use Tax break and neither should people who don't have "real" forestry plans and still get Land Use.

Hopefully this LONG OVERDUE revalidation effort will flush out the folks who should not have been getting Land Use treatment.

This 30+ year entitlement program needs an overhaul. It's expected by the participants, not appreciated.

As for the rebricking of the Downtown Mall. If the City didn't get its annual pound of flesh from the County via Revenue-Sharing, there wouldn't have been a rebricking and the tax rate in the City would be at least 110 mils.

@Monkey

1. Baloney! Go do an advanced search on the County's GIS system of sales over the past five years of conservation easement parcels. The Tax Value ends up being ONLY 28% of the selling price on average. It's not about the development rights. It's about the cachet of owning a CE property. The new owners paid what they thought was Fair market Value knowing the development rights were gone. If they paid FMV, they should be taxed on FMV.

2. Trickle down Reaganomics? Didn't work 25 years ago. Doesn't work know.

3. Transfer taxes are immaterial in the scheme of things and sometimes high-dollar owners find a way to skirt that issue.

4. Income-producing real properties get all sorts of income tax breaks homeowners don't get. They get income AND they get to deduct depreciation and all sorts of expenses homeowners can't.

5. Land use is no correction. It was an effort to encourage farmers to stay on the land. Unfortunately, that isn't exactly what happened. How many farmers are there on the 21-acre lots in Blandemar? Why does someone who lives in Farmington get Land Use?

6. Given the economic climate and prospects for future development, moot point.

7. The government takes away rights for the benefit of the greater public good all the time. Last time I checked, there were ONLY 3,000 owners in Land Use and 94,000+ County residents. Why should farmers be immune? Downzoning would save the Rural Areas. Isn't that what the Comprehensive Plan says it's all about? Save the Rural Areas at the expense of the Growth Areas1 That's the Albemarle mantra.

8. Revalidation ONLY happened after Growth Area residents raised a stink about the laxity that is Albemarle County's hallmark. And the farmers fought it all the way. Land Use in Albemarle County meant never having to prove you qualified for it. That's how Enron happened, Tyco, Madoff, etc. Virginia is FAMOUS for its lack of enforcement and follow up.

betty asks...When a farmer ultimately sells out to a developer, will the non-Land Use taxpayers receive some of that profit in addition to the five-year rollback

The answer is YES, he will pay capital gains on an inflated price because the land is worth so much more when it gets rezoned residential and the farmer knows it before he sells.

Go ahead and roll back the land use adjustment and watch how quickly the farmers in albemarle drop out of farming because they cannot compete with farmers in other counties and states who's residents have the common snese to keep things fair.

I am sure you will enjoy all of the traffic, road construction and subsequent loss of property values and tax revenue as thousands of lots get divided and put on the market.

A farm is a corporation just like a restuant on the downtown mall. THe city buys 8 million dollars worth of bricks to keep them in business and reap it in the end in a prosperous business community that pays taxes. A farm saves the county money in all of the ways mentioned by freddy and probably more. My farming business doesn't require nearly as much police protection from shoplifters robbers, drunks, vandals etc.

The land use adjustment was not a favor to certain friends it was a way of correcting a mistake in the law that would have eliminated farming in Va.

So keep complaining and in a few years you too will be able to enjoy less fresh food trucked in from other states at a higher price in your depreciuated house.

@Betty Bartlett, I have to assume that you haven't been reading The Hook thoroughly. There are a number of properties each week for auction, a handful have been around a million dollars or more. Many of those property owners have "walked away from their properties." Since there has been no report of their joining the ranks of the homeless, they find somewhere else to go. Also, each week the Hook list property transfers, mainly in the County and currently through April. There has been a great deal of transfers to corporations, mainly locally known development companies. Many of these properties have considerable acreage.
"History proves that these parcels are generally taxed at only ~30% of Fair Market Value." How is the Fair Market Value determined after the property has gone into easement. It certainly won't necessarily be what it was before the property went under easement. Is a formula used, or is it determined by what was the selling price per acre or other properties under easement?

Betty:

1) properties that go into conservation do go down in price.. significantly in many cases. Why would someone want to pay more for a property without the option of subdivision removed?

2) The capitol gains taxes do trickle down to the local level.

3) County transfer taxes are paid on the appreciated price whenever a property is sold.

4) The county receives income tax earned by use of the property which does not happen with a residence unless someone has a home office.

5) It was a correction of an unfair punishment to farmers and NOT a payback to friends of politicians.

6) my argument about the consequences of eliminating it and losing out to smarter entities is still valid despite you ignoring it.

7)" Downzoning" is really another way of saying "we are taking your development rights that you paid for when you bought the property" Sort of like buying a duplex and the government telling you you cannot rent out the other half anymore.

8) The revalidation is underway and the rules are on the books to make sure that people skirting the law get caught. Real farmers don't have a problem with revalidation.

"...on our own Local Food Hub (which didn’t get much help from BoS earlier this year), ..." Obviously the Food Hub didn't need any help for the BoS. I'm am sure they are wiser and more self-respecting because of it. Farmers already have several creative ways of distributing their products and this may become a good addition.

freddy farmer shows that every issue isn't simple. It's good ever so often to be reminded of why Land Use was put into place originally.

Only a complete fool would think that spending $8 million on brick was necessary to keep anyone downtown in business.