Which counties here have land use taxation?
Carroll, Pulaski and Montgomery counties run use value programs for agricultural, horticultural and forest land, and Wythe and Floyd counties take agricultural and horticultural land only. The statewide Virginia Tech list shows no use-value assessment ordinance for Grayson County or the City of Galax; confirm with each Commissioner of the Revenue. Land used in agricultural and forestal production inside an agricultural or forestal district is eligible regardless.
Seven localities, the classes each one takes, and the record each status rests on
| Locality | Classes it takes | What the status rests on | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll County | Agricultural (5 acres), horticultural (5 acres) and forest (20 acres) | The county's Special Assessment Land Program page; the Virginia Tech list agrees | Commissioner of the Revenue, 605-7 Pine Street, Hillsville, (276) 730-3080 |
| Wythe County | Agricultural and horticultural only; no forest, no open space | The county's FAQ; the Virginia Tech list agrees | Commissioner of the Revenue, Wytheville, 276-223-6015 |
| Pulaski County | Agriculture (5 acres) and forestry (20 acres, with a Forest Management Plan); the Virginia Tech list shows agricultural, horticultural and forest | The county's Land Use Value FAQ and its Application for Deferred Land Use Taxation; the Virginia Tech list | Assessor, within the Commissioner of Revenue's office, Pulaski, 540-980-7753 |
| Montgomery County | Agricultural and horticultural (5 acres cleared) and forest (20 acres); open space does not qualify under its ordinance | The county's land use information page; the Virginia Tech list agrees | Commissioner of Revenue, Christiansburg, 540-382-5710 |
| Floyd County | Agriculture and horticulture | The county's Commissioner of the Revenue page; the Virginia Tech list agrees | Commissioner of the Revenue, Floyd, (540) 745-9345 |
| Grayson County | The Virginia Tech list shows "No use-value assessment ordinance" | The statewide list only; no Grayson County page states the status either way | Commissioner of the Revenue, Independence, 276-773-2381 |
| City of Galax | The Virginia Tech list shows "No use-value assessment ordinance" | The statewide list only | Commissioner of Revenue, Galax, 276-236-2528 |
Look at the last two rows first. Five localities publish their own program pages, and the statewide list is consistent with each of them. For Grayson County and the City of Galax, the only record of program status is that statewide list, which is why those two rows say who to call rather than what is true.
The reason the map is uneven is in the statute. Va. Code 58.1-3231 says a county, city or town that has adopted a land-use plan "may" adopt an ordinance providing for use value assessment and taxation, and that the ordinance may cover any or all of the four classes of real estate: agricultural, horticultural, forest and open space. Each governing body decides whether to have a program and which classes to take. So land use taxation is not one statewide program with a single set of classes; it is several local ones, and the defined term is set out under land use taxation.
Grayson's own planning record does not settle it. Its 2024 Comprehensive Plan lists "studying implications of use-value taxation as a tool to manage land conversion" among its strategies, and separately lists exploring use-value taxation as a tax incentive with the Grayson EDA. A plan that proposes to study a program says nothing certain about whether one is in force today, so the Grayson Commissioner of the Revenue at 276-773-2381, and the Galax Commissioner of Revenue at 276-236-2528, are the offices that can confirm it for land there.
Being in a program is only half the answer. When the application is due in each of these localities is on when the land use application is due, and whether a given tract qualifies at all is on Virginia's land use program.
Timber is where the county line changes the program, and a tract across the line is measured whole
On pasture and cropland the five counties with published programs look alike: each takes agricultural land. The differences show up on wooded ground and on land that crosses a line.
Timberland is the clearest case. Carroll, Pulaski and Montgomery take forest use at 20 acres, and Pulaski asks for a Forest Management Plan. Wythe and Floyd run agricultural and horticultural programs only, so a wooded tract in either county has no forest class to enroll in under the county's program, the district rule below aside. Open space is narrower still: Carroll's page lists agricultural, horticultural and forest, Wythe says it participates only in the agricultural and horticultural portions, and Montgomery says open space land does not qualify under its ordinance.
Tracts that cross a county line raise a second question, and here the statute helps the owner. Va. Code 58.1-3241 says that where contiguous real estate in qualifying use in one ownership lies in more than one taxing locality, the minimum acreage is determined on the total area, not the area inside one locality. A tract in two counties is measured whole for the acreage test. That rule is about acreage, though, not about which classes each county offers, so whether the part lying in a county without a forest program can enroll is a question for that county's Commissioner of the Revenue.
Two neighboring subjects are easy to confuse with land use taxation. Zoning is a separate question with a separate map, and which of these localities zone at all is on six counties and the City of Galax. Wythe County's posted Land Use Classification Ordinance is a draft zoning-type ordinance, not the tax program, and whether it controls anything today is covered on Austinville VA real estate.
Farmed ground inside an agricultural or forestal district is eligible with or without a local ordinance
The locality-by-locality table is not the whole answer for one kind of land. Virginia's statute reaches past the ordinances for ground inside an agricultural or forestal district.
Land used in agricultural and forestal production within an agricultural district, a forestal district or an agricultural and forestal district that has been established under Chapter 43
Va. Code 58.1-3231
The same sentence finishes by making that land eligible for use value assessment and taxation "whether or not a local land-use plan or local ordinance pursuant to this section has been adopted." Read the qualifier closely: the statute reaches land used in agricultural and forestal production within a district. Sitting inside a district is not the test by itself, and the land still has to be in production.
That is why a county's list of classes, or a statewide list showing no ordinance, does not end the question for a particular tract. Montgomery County runs an Agricultural and Forestal District program of its own. Whether a given parcel lies in an established district anywhere in the footprint is a question for the locality, and whether it then qualifies is a question for the Commissioner of the Revenue.
How districts, applications, valuation and roll-back fit together as one program, from enrollment to leaving it, is walked through in Virginia's land use program, explained.
Not sure which land use program a tract falls under, or whether a county line splits it?
Send the road and the acreage on each side of the line. Lowell can tell you which Commissioners of the Revenue to call, and the program answer stays with them. No cost, no obligation.
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Questions this raises
Does acreage in two counties count together for the land use minimum?
Yes, for the acreage test. Va. Code 58.1-3241 says that where contiguous real estate in agricultural, horticultural, forest or open-space use in one ownership lies in more than one taxing locality, the minimum acreage is determined on the total area, not the area in one locality. Which classes each county takes is a separate matter, so ask both Commissioners of the Revenue.
Does Carroll County's land use program include open space?
Carroll County's program page describes an ordinance for agricultural, horticultural and forest real estate, with minimums of 5 acres for the first two and 20 acres for forest, and the Virginia Tech list shows the same three. Open space is not among the classes the county lists. The Carroll County Commissioner of the Revenue at (276) 730-3080 confirms the program's current terms.
Can farmland in Grayson County get use value assessment?
It depends on the land and on what the county confirms. The Virginia Tech list shows no use-value assessment ordinance for Grayson County, but Va. Code 58.1-3231 makes land used in agricultural and forestal production within an established agricultural or forestal district eligible whether or not a local ordinance has been adopted. The Grayson Commissioner of the Revenue at 276-773-2381 can confirm the county's program status and whether a parcel qualifies.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 58.1-3231, use value assessment as a local option, and land in agricultural and forestal districts Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 58.1-3241, contiguous land in more than one taxing locality Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 58.1-3237.1, additional provisions for named counties Virginia General Assembly
- Land Use Value Assessment program: use-value estimates by locality Virginia Tech
- Special Assessment Land Program for agricultural, horticultural and forest use Carroll County, Virginia
- Commissioner of the Revenue Carroll County, Virginia
- Frequently Asked Questions: land use assessment program Wythe County, Virginia
- Commissioner of the Revenue Wythe County, Virginia
- Land Use Value FAQ (PDF) Pulaski County, Virginia
- Assessor: Application for Deferred Land Use Taxation Pulaski County, Virginia
- Commissioner of Revenue: land use information Montgomery County, Virginia
- Commissioner of the Revenue: land use program Floyd County, Virginia
- Comprehensive Plan 2024 (PDF): use-value taxation strategies Grayson County, Virginia
- Commissioner of the Revenue Grayson County, Virginia
- Commissioner of Revenue City of Galax