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I- Page 4 farmland preservation report Minnesota effort in political dead zone SAINT PAUL, MN - The Twin Cities metropolitan region can boast one of the nation's few programs that requires restrictive zoning as the main compo- nent of a farmland protection effort. But the effort has no aid from the state, and, recently it has no enthusiasm from the body that governs it. The Metropolitan Council has been charged since 1982 with monitoring enrollment in the seven - county Metropolitan Agricultural Preserves Program and has the authority to boost program efforts. Just over a year ago, the Council published Blueprint 2030, calling for a regional PDR program and promising to seek a $50 million bond to fund it. That was before a change in the State House brought an all -new membership to the Council. When it reconvened, the new council squelched the 2030 plan and the regional PDR drive. "The new Council axed a.]1 the argricultural protection documents," said staffer Tori Dupre. According to Dupre, only two of the seven counties - Dakota and Carver - have significant acreage enrolled in agricultural preserves, which dwelling units to one per 40 acres in exchange for use value assessment, property tax credits and other benefits. About 190,000 acres are enrolled in the region. Dakota County has the state's only local PDR program. Nearby Washington County may consider. a bond referendum for a program, its second attempt, Dupre said, but many farmers in the county are dropping out ofthe Preserves program, and none of the counties promote it, she said. Minnesota is "not at all the liberal, progressive state it once was," said Lee Ronning of 1000 Friends of Minnesota. "We're going backwards. For farmland preser- vation, I don't see anything happening at all." Nevertheless, the group plans to refocus its efforts on farmland, she said. Contact: Tori Dupre, 651- 602 -1621; Lee Ronning, 651312 -1000. news briefs April 2004 New Jersey governor signs statewide transfer of development rights law TRENTON, NJ —New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey signed into law March 29 a transfer of development rights bill that authorizes localities to set up sending and receiving areas and to transfer rights across boundaries (see FPR, March 2004). "New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation and we are losing 50 acres of farmland each day. TDR is the planning tool we need to accommodate our growing population without using up all of our open space," McGreevey stated. The new law has rankled the state homebuilders association, which has already filed its grievances with the courts, claiming stream protections in the new law will seal up 80 percent of the state's remain- ing developable land. The K. Hovnanian Companies berated the lack of "growth incentives." A spokesman for the New Jersey Sierra Club agreed, stating the new law would be stronger if it included tax incentives to help developers pay for infrastructure costs. Other critics said the new law's effectiveness will be in doubt because program adoption is volun- tary and has an anti - downzonings clause. AP investigation turns up millions lost in use -value breaks to developers Nationwide, well - intended farmland tax breaks are being used by developers setting aside land for development, according to the Associated Press. Agricultural use assessments, first used by states in the late 1950's, were designed to tax farmers on the current use of their land rather than its develop- ment value. The tax breaks were the first form of farmland preservation, but they couldn't compete with developers' offers. Those same developers got the same tax breaks while planning to build. According to the March 29 AP report, develop- ers are saving big, often paying only a tiny fraction of the tax they would pay if localities had a better way to monitor sales and intentions. Many localities don't know how much revenue is lost to loophole tax breaks annually. Broward County, FL estimated its losses at $13 million.