Agenda - 05-19-1998 - 9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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37 M E M O R A N D U M Orange County Planning & Inspections Department 306F Revere Road Hillsborough, NC 27278 Telephone: (919) 732 -8181 E -mail: dbelk @co.orange.nc.us FAX (919) 644 -3002 To: Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager From: Donald R. Belk, Planner II/Preservation Date: May 12, 1998 Subject: Summary on Cost of Community Services (COCS) Studies Copies: John Link, County Manager Gene Bell, Acting Planning Director At the BOCC meeting of May 6, Dolly Hunter, chair of the Agricultural Districts Advisory Board, stated that a comparison of the costs and benefits of farmland preservation versus the provision of county services to developed land is essential for public support of a PACE program. A number of studies, known as cost of community services (COCS) studies, have been completed in several places where farmland preservation is an important issue. These studies consistently show that farmland preservation pays for itself in the long run. Since its need for services is low compared to residential development, preserved farmland has a positive impact on tax revenues, generating more in taxes than it demands in public services. Attached is a summary from the Farmland Information Library I that briefly describes the methodology, function, and purpose of a COCS study. In 1994, an abbreviated analysis of COCS in Orange County was prepared for the "Green Book ". This cursory examination used the fiscal impact analysis template developed by the Planning Department to examine the effects of converting a 125 -acre farm to 58 residential lots. This abbreviated analysis showed that for every dollar of tax revenue raised by this development, Orange County spent an extra $0.34 in direct services (1 : 1.34). For the 125 acre farm, the ratio was 1 : 0.61; e.g., for every dollar of tax revenue raised by the farm, only $0.61 in expenditures was required for services - a net gain of $0.39. While these results should not be construed as equivalent to the detailed COCS studies conducted at other locations, they may serve to verify other findings that farmland preservation is indeed a fiscally responsible endeavor. /db attachment 1 The Farmland Information Library is a part of the Farmland Information Center: a project of American Farmland Trust Center for Agriculture in the Environment; funded by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in affiliation with the USDA National Agricultural Library.