County staff outline conservation‑easement landscape and ACE purchases

Community Development Director Jody Filardo and County Assessor Peter Lynch presented an overview of conservation instruments, the county’s ACE (Acquisition of Conservation Easements) program and assessment implications. Filardo explained the types of easements used in Albemarle County—Ag/Forestal Districts, temporary open‑space use agreements and permanent conservation easements—and said holder organizations (Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the county’s ACEA and others) enforce easement restrictions.

Filardo noted roughly 109,000 acres across 603 easements are held countywide—about 25% of the rural area—and ACE (the county purchasing program) holds approximately 9,623 acres across 52 easements. County Assessor Peter Lynch explained tax assessment outcomes: parcels under conservation easements are typically assessed at land‑use rates for taxation, which lowers local tax revenue but can increase Albemarle’s share of state school funding because the state’s Local Composite Index (LCI) is calculated using reported true tax value. Lynch illustrated a sample 35‑acre parcel to show the difference between market valuation, land‑use valuation and conservation‑easement valuation and the consequences for annual taxes and the state reporting base.

Board members asked clarifying questions about program eligibility, historical ratios of easement types and whether parcels in easements could later be subdivided (easements are permanent; open‑space agreements and Ag/Forestal Districts are different instruments with distinct rules). Staff said additional outreach and documentation (including a Weldon Cooper cost‑of‑community‑services study) would be available on future agendas.