Wood County Auditor Michael Sibbersen has announced that the 2017 Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) renewal forms have been mailed to property owners currently enrolled in the program. Eligible property owners, who are not currently enrolled, may also apply for the program now.
In accordance with Ohio law, CAUV applications are to be filed with the county auditor’s office by the first Monday in March, this year by March 6. Eligible property owners must reapply each year with no renewal fee. There is a $25 initial filing fee for all new applications. If renewal forms are not returned by March 6, the county auditor will be required by law to value the property at its market value and recoup the tax savings for the past three years.
Current Agricultural Use Value authorizes the county auditor to assess farmland at its crop production value rather than its market value. It protects and preserves farming operations by gearing the tax base to the production of the land rather than its potential for development. Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment which created the program and since 1974 most of the state’s agricultural land has been taxed at this value instead of market value.
CAUV soil values are set by the Ohio Department of Taxation and are adjusted every three years for each county. New values were issued for all parcels in the CAUV program in Wood County for the 2014 tax year which was payable in 2015. Therefore, the 2016 tax year payable in 2017 is the third and final year in which those values will be used to calculate taxes. New values will be issued for the 2017 tax year which is payable in 2018.
“Wood County has 9,606 individual real estate parcels on ag use,” Sibbersen noted. “A total of 318,785 acres in this program brought a tax savings to agricultural landowners last year of over $3 million.”
If you are not currently enrolled in the CAUV program and you believe you may be eligible, contact the Wood County Auditor’s Office at 419-354-9174 for more information.
