Taxes
168. GENERAL TAX POLICY
Taxation is used to share the costs of government
in areas which government can best serve the common
good of all citizens. Taxation should never
be used to provide revenue to replace individual
initiative and the free enterprise system. Taxation
should be fair and equally distributed with attention to
the effect upon citizens and various segments of the
economy. West Virginia Farm Bureau recommends
that the ‘user of services pays’ concept should be
utilized whenever possible.
Governments do not produce wealth. A stable and
broad-based tax program affords stability of business
activities. Existing government programs should
respect, preserve, and encourage wealth-producing
activities such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining,
exploration, research and development, upon which
individual wealth, employment and responsible growth
are based. Farming is a business with large capital
investments. Every effort must be made to consolidate
government agencies and minimize the negative impact
of bureaucracy.
169. AGRICULTURAL LAND & REAL ESTATE
TAXATION
Real estate taxation should be fair and in conformity
with existing constitutional limitations. It is fundamental
to remember that property owners also pay all other
taxes. The farmer is especially vulnerable to unfair
property tax or assessments because of the amount of
land necessary to farm.
West Virginia Farm Bureau endorses the statewide
review of taxation, but believes the fair treatment of
owner occupied residences and farmland is essential
to stable rural communities and must remain so.
Dwellings that are not owner occupied are taxed at the
Class III rate, even if the dwellings do not generate any
income. We recommend that all non-income producing
dwellings be taxed at the Class II rate.
Agricultural land and managed forestland should
be valued as a tool in the production of food and fiber
– not on a speculative or other potential use basis. We
oppose any change in West Virginia’s property tax
methodology, particularly for farmland and managed
timberland, which would depart from the “present-use”
method of arriving at value.
Property taxes are slowly, but constantly, increasing
each year. The WV State Tax Department is pressuring
local assessors to increase property tax assessments.
Reassessment is limited to occur once every ten
(10) years. Only elected officials should be able to
raise taxes, not appointed officials who are not held
accountable to taxpayers.
Taxes from farm and forestland, presently and
historically, generate much more in tax revenue than
they demand in services compared to suburban and
urban acreage. Therefore, we support the pursuit of a
fair and equitable property tax law, for rural landowners.
When farm use valuation has been established by
meeting federal guidelines, we recommend automatic
renewal unless use or ownership changes. WVFB
recommends that the State Tax Department enforce
its current farm use valuation policy uniformly across
the state.
Timber from farm woodlots should be considered
an agricultural crop for the purposes of farm use
valuation. In the year that a timber sale o