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21 <br /> a 125-acre farm to residential use. Under the farm scenario, the"family"was considered to consist of the <br /> farmer and his/her spouse.The rationale for this assumption is that the average age of an Orange County <br /> farmer is approximately 55 years, according to the 1987 Census of Agriculture. A related assumption is <br /> that the farmer's children would have completed their education and chosen another occupation.In terms <br /> of farm value, a survey of similar sized farms participating in the Preferential Assessment/Deferred <br /> Taxation Program indicated that the assessed value would be approximately$103,000,including land and <br /> buildings. <br /> For the "residential" scenario, the farm was developed into 58 two-acre lots after deducting land <br /> area required for street rights-of-way. Based on 1990 Census of Population, the "family" was considered <br /> to consist of a married couple with one child.The home value was set at$170,000, the average cost of a <br /> new home according to 1993-94 building permit records. <br /> TABLE 3.10 <br /> COMPARISON OF COST OF COMMUNITY SERVICES <br /> IN NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES <br /> Land Use <br /> State Locality Commercial& <br /> Residential Industrial Farm/Open <br /> Connecticut Hebron 1 : 1.06 1 : 0.42 1 : 0.36 <br /> Agawam 1 : 1.05 1 : 0.44 1 : 0.31 <br /> Massachusetts Deerfield 1 : 1.16 1 : 0.38 1 : 0.29 <br /> Gill 1 : 1.15 1 : 0.43 1 : 0.38 <br /> Beekman 1 : 1.12 1 : 0.18 1 : 0.48 <br /> New York <br /> North East 1 : 1.36 1 : 0.29 1 : 0.21 <br /> North Carolina Orange County 1 1.34 N/A 1 : 0.61 <br /> As highlighted above,this abbreviated analysis indicates that for every dollar of revenue raised by <br /> the 58-lot residential development,Orange County spent an extra 34 cents in direct services(1: 1.34).For <br /> the 125-acre farm,the ratio was$1 to 61 cents;e.g.,for every dollar raised after Orange County provided <br /> services, 39 cents remained.While the results should not be construed as equivalent to the in-depth AFT <br /> studies, they may, in fact, be verifying (as the AFT studies have) that it is fiscally more responsible to <br /> preserve farmland. <br /> 8. How would a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program operate and who <br /> would administer it? <br /> Six basic steps are proposed for the PDR Program. Based loosely on the Forsyth County model, <br /> the steps are described below and illustrated on the accompanying page. <br /> Step 1 -Submission of Application:To initiate the PDR process, an advertisement would be <br /> published in all newspapers having general circulation in the county. Interested farmland owners would <br />