What is Georgia's Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA)?
What is Georgia's Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA)?
CUVA lets owners of bona-fide agricultural or environmentally sensitive land have it valued at its conservation use value rather than fair market value, in exchange for a binding 10-year covenant; up to 2,000 acres qualify.
Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA) is a preferential assessment program under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4. It is most relevant to homeowners who also own qualifying farm, forest, or environmentally sensitive land — and it occasionally overlaps with assessment-appeal questions when an owner believes their land should be valued under CUVA.
What CUVA does. Instead of being assessed at 40% of fair market value, qualifying land is valued at its current-use (conservation) value, which is typically far lower than market value for land under development pressure. This produces a substantially smaller assessed value and tax bill on the covered acreage.
Eligibility and limits:
- The land must be in bona-fide agricultural or forest production, or be environmentally sensitive land.
- Up to 2,000 acres per owner may be entered into CUVA.
- There is no strict minimum acreage, but owners of fewer than 10 acres must supply extra documentation showing the primary use is bona-fide agricultural or timber production.
The covenant. CUVA requires a sworn 10-year covenant running from January 1 of the entry year, committing the owner to maintain the qualifying use. This is the trade-off for the lower valuation.
Breach penalties are steep. An owner who breaches the covenant — by developing or converting the land before the 10 years end — must pay back twice the tax savings received over the life of the covenant up to the breach, plus interest. Treat CUVA as a long-term commitment, not a one-year tax tactic.
How it relates to appeals. CUVA is an application, not an assessment appeal, but if the assessor denies or revokes your CUVA status, that denial can be challenged through the standard appeal process under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311. For the application itself, contact your county Board of Tax Assessors; CUVA applications are due by the same deadline as a property tax return for the year. Verify acreage rules and current covenant forms on your county assessor's page before applying.