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'rarmlana tntormation (,enter - lecn ... ( -ost of (,ommunfry -)ervices 3tuaies <br />nap:;; farm. nc.nfu.eawtic- taatafs- cocs.html <br />39 <br />FUNCTIONS & PURPOSES <br />Communities pay a high price for unplanned growth. Scattered development <br />frequently causes traffic congestion, air and water pollution, loss of open space <br />and increased demand for costly public services. This is why it is important for <br />citizens and commun ity leaders to understand the relationships between <br />residential and commercial growth, land conservation and their municipality's <br />bottom line. <br />COCS studies can help local officials and farmland protection advocates <br />counter three claims that are commonly heard at local meetings in rural or <br />suburban communities: <br />1. Residential development will lower property taxes by increasing the tax <br />base; <br />2. Farmland gets an unfair tax break when it is assessed at its actual use for <br />agriculture instead of its potential use for development; <br />3. Open lands, including productive farms and forests, are interim uses just <br />waiting to be developed to their "highest and best use." <br />While it is true that an acre of land with a new house generates more total <br />revenue than an acre of hay or corn, this tells us little about a community's <br />fiscal stability. In areas where farming and forestry are major industries, it is <br />especially importan t to consider the real property tax contribution of privately <br />owned natural resource lands. Farms, forests and other open lands may <br />generate less revenue than residential, commercial or industrial properties, but <br />they require little public infrastructure and few services. <br />COCS studies conducted in more than 40 communities over the past decade <br />show that owners of farm, forest and open lands pay more in local tax revenues <br />than it costs local government to provide services to their properties. <br />Residential land uses, in contra st, are a net drain on municipal coffers: It costs <br />local governments more to provide services to homeowners than residential <br />landowners pay in property taxes. <br />$1.25 <br />$1.00 <br />S .75 <br />S .50 <br />S .25 <br />I <br />industrial rau�uru�cs� """d <br />Graph: Median <br />cost per dollar of <br />revenue raised -to <br />provide public services <br />to different land uses <br />The findings of COCS studies are consistent with those of conventional fiscal <br />impact analyses, which document the high cost of residential development and <br />recommend commercial and industrial development to help balance local <br />budgets. What is unique about COCS studies is that they show that that <br />agricultural land is similar to other commercial and industrial uses. In every <br />community studied, farmland has generated a fiscal surplus to help offset the <br />2 of 5 5/11/98 3:12 PM <br />