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Page 4 farmland preservation report April 1943
<br /> Virginia study says farmland protection makes fiscal sense
<br /> inued fmm page 7 Augusta Co.,Va.:Land use costs St revenue
<br /> When the figures are taken by themselves, the 1199I Residential I/C E Form use
<br /> study said, industrial and commercial uses look Gross 43201,662 10,558,629 6281 AU
<br /> enticing-just 20 cents provided in services for every Revenue 71.9501'. 17.59% 10.46%
<br /> dollar they generate in revenue.
<br /> Farm and rural land uses, as in other fiscal Gross
<br /> impact studies,were shown to contribute more E)Pendi- 52,825,374 2.073,441 5D52221
<br /> tures
<br /> dollars to county coffers than they use in services, 88.11% 3.4b% 8.43%
<br /> but did cost more than industrial uses: 80 cents
<br /> Net 9.6 million 8.5 million 1.2 million
<br /> spent for every dollar generated. deficit/ deficit contribution contribution
<br /> The county spent$1.22 for every dollar gener- contribution
<br /> ated from residential land uses.
<br /> The study was performed as the county pre- Average
<br /> pares to update its comprehensive plan,-according Net -140.76 +378.75 +4.17
<br /> Revenue
<br /> to John Hutchinson of the Valley Conservation per Acre
<br /> Council, which conducted the study over the past
<br /> year through a grant from the state's Center on Costs Per$1 1 1.22 .20 .80
<br /> Rural Development (see FPF,March 1992). generated
<br /> The study's goals were to determine current $&.Me: Land Uw and Cownva*C*Oa in"WO County,Vbgbft
<br /> land uses dividing them into four categories; to de-
<br /> termine the rate of farm and forestland conversion necessary to derive a more accurate accounting of
<br /> between 1959 and 1992;and,to assign revenues and farmland loss in the county between 1987 and 1992
<br /> ditu t the four categories.To meet criteria
<br /> .2e res; o That loss was estimated at eight percent and was
<br /> 'red by the Center on Rural Development, the added to a 14 percent loss cited by the Census of
<br /> dy used data and methodology that can be
<br /> Agriculture for the period of 1959 to 1987.
<br /> duplicated in other Virginia counties. Land in farms, using both the Census and the
<br /> The Augusta County study differs from other county's real property data from the two separate
<br /> fiscal impact studies in at least one important periods,decreased from 338,281 acres in 1959 to
<br /> respect,Hutchinson said.Part of the county's 269,117 acres in 1992,a decrease of 69,164 acres,an
<br /> expenditures to serve households,largely schools, approximate 20 percent decline.The county's real
<br /> was attributed to the farm/forest use category.The property files,which place all county land uses into
<br /> purpose,he said,was to better reflect the nature of 32 categories,nine of which relate to ag use,could
<br /> land use in Augusta,and to guarantee the study not be used as historic data, thus the current farm-
<br /> would yield a conservative estimate of the deficit land loss figure was derived using both census and
<br /> created by residential uses,a point of criticism of real property data. •: _. : r- : .1- -
<br /> other studies. And,no method is available to the county to
<br /> . "We're not saying these numbers are exactly derive a figure that can be said to be reliable,
<br /> right,but we think that overall we've been more . Hutchinson said.
<br /> than fair.If criticism were to come,it would be that "I don't think there is a one-hundred percent,
<br /> we put too many expenses onto ag and forest uses ' dead-on mechanism for[determining) the amount
<br /> and didn't claim enough revenue ... if anything, of farmland historically ... one thing we're trying to
<br /> our numbers are low in terms of residential costs," do is to convince the county to do a natural re-
<br /> Hutchinson said. sources survey," Hutchinson said.
<br /> In addition to altering the attribution of service Furthermore,such capability is lacking in the
<br /> costs, the study customized its definition of agricul- state,he said. "Nobody is really counting, for this
<br /> lands to include all rural land not being used county or, probably, for the state. Nobody is really
<br /> ornmercial, industrial or residential purposes tracking these things."
<br /> 992,whether or not income was derived from Kat Imhoff, executive director for the (Va.)
<br /> agricultural production—a departure from Census Commission on Population Growth and Develop-
<br /> of Agriculture procedure,which the study found please continue to next page
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