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Page 4
<br />news briefs
<br />farmland preservation report
<br />Nine West Virginia counties funding
<br />farmland programs with transfer tax
<br />CANAAN VALLEY WV - Nine counties in the eastern-
<br />most portion of West Virginia now have local real
<br />estate transfer taxes to- fund farmland preservation
<br />programs, and seven more counties have formed
<br />agricultural preservation advisory boards with intent
<br />to fund programs, according to Lavonne Paden, a
<br />land protection consultant. Another nine counties have
<br />had a public meeting to discuss forming local boards.
<br />Berkeley County, the easternmost panhandle
<br />county jutting into Maryland, is now in its third year of
<br />negotiating easements with an annual transfer tax
<br />revenue of $2.2 million, plus federal dollars, Paden
<br />said. About 1,500 acres there have been preserved.
<br />Elsewhere in the state, another 1,500 acres are at or
<br />near completion, she said.
<br />West Virginia has yet to assist counties and is not
<br />keeping track of local progress, according to Buddy
<br />Davidson of the state department of agriculture. A
<br />state board, however, has been formed.
<br />According to Paden, county governments will not
<br />be waiting for state help.
<br />"The counties have a head start on the state.
<br />They're fairly independent and can move ahead...
<br />there are quite a few applicants, so farmers are very
<br />interested."
<br />Miami Herald investigation: ag use tax
<br />break too friendly to developers
<br />MIAMI -DADE, FL - A lengthy investigation by the
<br />Miami Herald shows Florida's agricultural use value
<br />taxation law gives huge tax breaks for bogus farms,
<br />allowing developers and speculators to save millions
<br />in property taxes annually. Many tax breaks of up to
<br />99 percent are for barren lots, the Herald reported.
<br />All 50 states give property tax breaks to farmland
<br />owners, with or without penalties for eventually
<br />developing that land, but Florida's law is among the
<br />nation's most troubled, according to conclusions in the
<br />three -part series that ran in August.
<br />Using parcel data for Miami -Dade and Broward
<br />Counties, as well as tax break applications, aerial
<br />photographs, inspection notes, tax records and taped
<br />hearings, the investigative team found that much of
<br />September 2005
<br />the $60 million that those two counties forfeit annu-
<br />ally goes to landowners whose lands are planned for
<br />development and which are not in actual farm use.
<br />The root of the problem? Lack of scrutiny by
<br />local government officials, a vaguely worded statute
<br />and developer - friendly court rulings, the investigation
<br />found. For example, the Miami -Dade appraiser's
<br />office has "granted farm subsidies despite incomplete
<br />or late applications, zoning that prohibits agriculture,
<br />and cursory inspections," giving away much of the
<br />$60 million it paid in tax breaks to scam operations,
<br />Statewide, Florida shelled out an estimated $745
<br />million under agricultural -use taxation last year.
<br />According to Herald reporter Sam Nitze, political
<br />will to reform the law has been lacking.
<br />"The elected or former elected officials we talked
<br />to about past efforts to reform the law said they went
<br />nowhere at all. Nobody sounds very optimistic about
<br />change, but we'll see," Nitze told FPR. The series
<br />can be seen at www.herald.com.
<br />New law forces CT towns to levy fee,
<br />fund farmland preservation
<br />HARTFORD. CT - Gov. Jodi Rell signed Bill 410 in
<br />July, requiring the state's 169 towns to increase
<br />document recording fees by $30 and to use the
<br />revenue to fund farmland preservation, historic
<br />preservation, open space acquisition and affordable
<br />housing. The revenue is to be split evenly between
<br />the four programs, but towns get to take 34 off the
<br />top. The increase takes effect Oct. 1.
<br />The governor also put $8 million in the 2005 -06
<br />budget and $10 million in the 2006 -7 budget for
<br />farmland preservation, according to program director
<br />Jay Dippel. The funds more than quadruple the
<br />program's former annual funding.
<br />"Each day, we lose more acres of farm land and
<br />open space to developers," Gov. Rell said. "Each day
<br />we see historic homes and buildings razed to make
<br />way for cheaper new construction. Well, this is a
<br />new day in Connecticut, as we rededicate ourselves
<br />to those who made Connecticut the great state that it
<br />is, and to those who will inherit it from us."
<br />"This is great news for farmers," Jay Dippel told
<br />FPR. "They now see the program has a realistic
<br />funding commitment."
<br />Also enacted under Bill 410 is a fee simple
<br />purchase option for farms under imminent threat, and
<br />a local program authorization (see FPR, June 2005).
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