Hanover County offers a Land Use Program, under which qualified landowners can have their property assessed at “use value”, which may be lower than market value and reduce taxes owed.

The application period for this program begins September 1 and extends through November 1, 2017 with an additional enrollment period January 1 through February 1, 2018. 

Landowners who have kept their property in agricultural, horticultural, forest or open space uses for at least five years can qualify for the land use program.  The minimum qualifying acreages are five acres for agricultural, horticultural and open space and 20 acres for forest use.

Property that has been zoned Rural Conservation (RC) also can qualify for the Land Use program.

If the land use is changed, the tax reduction must be repaid with simple interest for the current tax year and potentially up to the previous five tax years. 

In November 2013, the Board of Supervisors modified the program to allow property rezoned for specified, more intense, uses to remain eligible for land use.

Under this change, property rezoned for manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, professional, scientific, technical services, hotels, motels, and professional offices can still be in the land use program.  Roll-back taxes would not apply until the actual use is changed.

About 3,552 parcels and 159,173 acres are currently enrolled in Hanover County’s Land Use Taxation program.  This represents about 55% of the County’s total acreage.  The total tax deferral realized by these property owners is about $5.3 million.

For more information about the Land Use Program or other tax relief programs offered by Hanover County, call the Commissioner of Revenue at 365-6125.