Participants in Albemarle's land use tax break program have less than a week to submit proper paper work to continue being included in the program, according to the Daily Progress.

The program allows landowners to defer taxes on rural, undeveloped land as long as it remains such, as opposed to paying taxes on the property at fair market value. Landowners in the program still pay fair market value taxes for part of their property, such as their houses, yards and driveways.

Applicants have until Sept. 1 to send their revalidation forms back to the county without a penalty. The forms can be sent to the county between Sept. 2 and Dec. 5 with a $125 fee. If the revalidation forms aren’t received by Dec. 5, participants will be purged from the program and required to pay back the money saved from the tax benefits over the past five years, plus interest, which could total thousands, or tens of thousands, of dollars in many cases.

Anyone with questions can call 296-5856 or go to the county assessors office in Room 243 at the County Office Building on McIntire Road from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The office will also be open until 7 p.m. tonight.

"Albemarle County is now requiring proof that landowners who claim tax benefits for rural, undeveloped land actually deserve those tax breaks. But seven business days before the deadline, revalidation paperwork for only about half of the parcels in the program has been submitted to the county.

'If you don’t send it, you’re going to be taken out of the program. And eventually, if we don’t hear from you, there will be the rollback tax,' said Bob Willingham, the county’s assessor.

There are nearly 5,000 parcels in the 'land use' tax program, said county spokeswoman Lee Catlin.

Willingham said that about $19 million in tax dollars is being deferred each year, which has Willingham somewhat surprised by how few people have sent their applications back to the county. He said he attributes the high number partially to the fact that it’s a new program."

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