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County appraiser outlines PUV audit targets and valuation rates for enrolled land
Summary
Dana Hall, Orange County’s PUV compliance appraiser, reported audit targets, enrollment counts and county valuation rates for agricultural, horticultural and forestry land, and described procedural requirements owners must meet during audits.
Dana Hall, Orange County’s PUV (Present-Use Value) compliance appraiser, told the Agricultural Preservation Board on Jan. 21 that she aims to audit roughly one-eighth of the county’s PUV-enrolled parcels each year and described how audits are selected and documented.
Hall presented enrollment and acreage numbers for the county’s PUV program: 59,049 total parcels countywide with 3,077 enrolled in PUV. Of those enrolled parcels, Hall said 1,118 are recorded as agriculture, 133 as horticulture and 1,826 as forestry. Total PUV acreage is 109,299; Hall reported forestry represents 60.8% of that acreage, agriculture 38.7% and horticulture 0.4%. She also noted a new PUV category, “Wildlife Conservation,” that requires a minimum parcel size of 20 acres and currently includes 15 parcels.
Hall described how the audit process works: staff send an initial letter to owners, audits require proof of farm income for the prior three years (or a current forestry management plan where relevant), and rules for leased land apply. She said owners must show an average income of at least $1,000 over a three-year period and that land may be idle without generating qualifying income for only one year. The county uses a random generator to select parcels for review; Hall said her annual target is about 246 parcels and noted her completed reviews increased from 132 in 2023 to 184 in 2025 as she works toward that goal.
On valuation, Hall said Orange County applies rates permitted in the state PUV manual: $645 per acre for agriculture, $890 per acre for horticulture and $245 per acre for forestry. The board discussed how conservation easements and soil types affect valuations and potential implications for landowners.
Board members also discussed whether recaptured PUV deferred taxes could be allocated to farmland preservation; the group noted Wake County’s practice of having commissioners annually approve a specific allocation and agreed the APB will need to present that option to the Board of County Commissioners as part of the new plan. Jessica Perrin, Soil and Water Conservation Manager, thanked Hall for the presentation and her work on the audit process.
The APB provided a contact for questions about the Wildlife Conservation category: Kristin Cathey, (984) 335-0589, kristen.cathey@ncwildlife.gov. The board’s discussion on the audit and potential use of recaptured funds concluded without a binding action; any change in use of recaptured taxes would require BOCC consideration.
