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Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV)

For property tax purposes, farmland devoted exclusively to commercial agriculture may be valued according to its current use rather than at its "highest and best" potential use. This provision of Ohio law is known as the Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) program. By permitting values to be set well below true market values, the CAUV normally results in a substantially lower tax bill for working farmers.

Common Questions

What is required to be eligible for the CAUV reduction?

To qualify for the CAUV, land must meet one of the following requirements during the three years preceding an application for the CAUV:

  • Ten or more acres must be devoted exclusively to commercial agricultural use; or
  • If under ten acres are devoted exclusively to commercial agricultural use, the farm must produce an average yearly gross income of at least $2,500.

Where do I apply?

Applications for CAUV must be filed with the Vinton County Auditor's Office.


How is CAUV calculated?

The CAUV values are based upon a formula containing five factors applied to three crops: corn, soybeans, and wheat. Hay was dropped from the formula this year. The five factors are:

  1. Cropping pattern: Based upon the acres of corn, beans and wheat compared to the total acres of those three crops
  2. Crop prices: Based upon a survey of elevators in Ohio
  3. Crop yields: based upon FSA yields per acre for each soil type, adjusted for actual average yields in Ohio
  4. Non-land production costs: Based upon farmer surveys by The Ohio State University
  5. Capitalization rate: Based upon the interest rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at Farm Credit Services, with 40% attributed to equity and 60% to debt

The crop prices, non-land production costs and capitalization rate are calculated by taking the previous seven years of numbers, eliminating the highest number and the lowest number, and then averaging the remaining five numbers. The prices, cropping pattern, costs and yields are then added and subtracted to determine the net profit per acre of soil type, and that number is then divided by the capitalization rate. This calculation is performed for each of the 3500 soil types in Ohio.


For all other questions, please contact the Vinton County Auditor's Office at (740) 596-4571 ext. 231, or by email at auditor@vintonco.com.