Smyth County board waives hearing rules, approves removing open‑space and forest land tax allowance

The chair opened a public hearing on a proposed amendment to Chapter 23 of the county code that would remove allowances for open‑space and forest land use from the land‑use tax program. Staff told the board that to make the change effective Jan. 1 the action needed to occur before the end of June, prompting a recommendation to waive the usual public‑hearing timing rules and act tonight.

Commissioners discussed constituent confusion and outreach; staff said a small number of landowners contacted the office asking how the change would affect their bills and that some land had been mis‑reported as forest/open‑space when it was agricultural. After debate over process and public notice, a motion to waive formal public‑hearing rules carried 6–1 and the board then voted 6–1 to adopt the ordinance amendment changing taxation for open‑space and forest land use.

"We've had some conversations in the past couple weeks about options with land use taxation," a county staff member said while outlining the timeline requirement for action. The chair confirmed the final vote and closed the hearing.

The ordinance language and effective date were presented by staff; no member of the public signed up to speak during the hearing. The board did not record a codified ordinance number in the meeting transcript. The staff presentation noted implementation and assessment implications but did not include an itemized fiscal impact study in the public packet.