Wood County Auditor Matthew Oestreich has announced the number of parcels whose taxable values have been reduced due to the change in calculation for land used exclusively for “conservation practices.”
“Last year the Ohio Legislature made a significant change in how land used exclusively for ‘conservation practices’ is valued under the Current Agriculture Use Valuation program,” said Oestreich. “Land enrolled in the CAUV program that is used for ‘conservation practices’ is now valued at the lowest value in the soil value table, which is $230 per acre. Thus far, a total of 5,873 acres in Wood County have been reduced to this minimum value based upon qualifying conservation practices. This acreage, comprising 1,557 parcels, represents 1.6 percent of all acres enrolled in the CAUV program. This reduction in value equates to a tax savings of approximately $40 per acre to qualifying landowners. Landowners enrolled in this conservation program have accrued nearly a quarter of a million dollars in combined tax savings.”
Those enrolled in the CAUV program, with land used for qualifying conservation practices, are encouraged to submit the required documentation as soon as possible in order to receive an adjustment of their 2017 tax year taxes, payable in 2018.
In order to qualify, each landowner must provide all of the following:
1) Copy of conservation contract with a government agency.
2) Detailed map that shows the exact areas of each parcel that are used exclusively for “conservation practices.”
3) Beginning on the 2018 CAUV renewal application and every year thereafter, include and verify the number of conservation acres for each parcel.
4) Maintain the conservation practice for a minimum of three years.
Contact Brian Jones, CAUV Specialist, in the Wood County Auditor’s Office by phone at 419-354-9174 or by email at bjones@co.wood.oh.us for more information or if you have any questions.
