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Farmland preservation going to voters: Washington County weighs buying development rights(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 14--WEST BEND -- Washington County voters in the April 3 general election will be asked if they are willing to spend $8 million in the next decade to prevent development of an estimated 2,900 acres of farmland. The Washington County Board last week agreed to let voters decide whether they want to create the state's first countywide purchase-of-development rights program for the purpose of preserving acres for future agricultural production. A referendum question on the April 3 ballot will ask voters whether the county should spend "at least $800,000 per year for 10 years" to pay willing landowners not to develop agricultural acres, under a resolution approved on a 19-10 vote at the board's Jan. 9 meeting. One supervisor was absent. If affirmed by a majority of voters, the County Board would be bound to create the program in 2008, under a separate resolution adopted on a 16-13 vote at the meeting. The ballot question will list the county sales tax, long-term debt or the county property tax levy as possible sources of cash to pay for preserving farmland. But the referendum places one condition on the future spending: All county dollars spent on the program must be matched equally with federal, state or private dollars. The combined spending of $16 million would buy the development rights -- not the land -- on about 2,900 acres. Buying a landowner's right to develop property would cost an estimated $5,500 an acre, the Land Conservation Partnership said last year in a report on the proposal. The group represents businesses, farms, land trusts and other organizations in the county. A purchase-of-development rights program is needed to ensure there is adequate land for large-scale farming, said Supervisor Dan Stoffel, a Town of Kewaskum farmer. The county has been losing an average of 1,484 acres of farmland to development each year since the mid-1990s, he said. Stoffel's family owns only half of the land they cultivate and they rent the remaining acres from other landowners, he said. The farm is operating at less than capacity because fields rented in the past have become residential subdivisions. In the proposed purchase-of-development rights program, a landowner voluntarily would sell the right to develop land and the county would buy a property easement permanently restricting subdivisions and non-farm building construction. The value of the easement would be the difference between the price that a developer might pay to buy a property and its estimated value if sold as agricultural land. Supervisor Leslie Borman of the Village of Germantown was one of several board members who spoke against creating the program. "People already are saying we are overtaxed" in the county, Borman said of recent conversations with constituents. He ultimately voted to put the referendum question on the ballot and let voters decide its merits. Borman voted against the separate resolution binding the County Board to create the program if the referendum is approved. Administrative Coordinator Doug Johnson told supervisors that there will not be adequate county sales tax revenue in the next 10 years to fully fund the proposal. Each of three revenue sources -- sales and property taxes and borrowing -- probably would be needed over the course of 10 years to finance the proposal, Johnson said. One reason for the limited access to county sales tax revenue is that the County Board has allocated 30% of an estimated $8 million or more of sales tax dollars in 2008 for property tax relief. That percentage will grow to 50% in 2009 under current policy. County Board Chairman Tom Sackett, a supervisor representing the City of Hartford, was among 10 board members voting against both purchase-of-development rights resolutions. Sackett has said that he is opposed to the cost of the program. Supervisor Kenneth Brandt of the Town of Addison, an opponent of the program, asked whether the county could place a cap, or maximum dollar amount, on per acre costs of the easements. Buy a link here Copyright (c) 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |