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Introduction It is worth mentioning that undeveloped land is AFT ' s Northeastern Office conducted its first the only category of real estate that needs a special COOS study in Hebron , Conn . , in 1986 . State and program to be taxed on the basis of its actual use . local policy-makers used it to . support farmland Tax codes do not require a mobile home t0 be protection efforts and to defend Connecticut ' s use- assessed on the theoretical value of the mansion that assessment program . In 1989 , Cornell Cooperative might be built on its site . Nor do they require a Extension and AFT co - sponsored a COCS study of general store to be taxed as a supermarket . two towns in Dutchess County , N . Y . As early as 1957 , Maryland initiated a use The Massachusetts Department of Food and value assessment program . By 1991 , all 50 states Agriculture approached AFT in 1990 to study three had adopted similar programs . Although they differ Connecticut River Valley towns . DFA chose the in specifics , these programs share broad goals , valley because it has some of the most important including : slowing the loss of farmland and farmland in the region , and unprecedented growth forestland and more equitably distributing property in the 1980s had tripled the number of building tax burdens . permits , forced property values up by 300 percent In the 1980s , AFT became concerned about and claimed 7 , 000 acres of land . Towns did not attacks on several Northeastern use- assessment have enough financial information to respond to programs . To learn if working lands contributed to developers who promised to lower taxes by the local tax base , AFT developed an inexpensive , subdividing prime farmland . Some local officials easy -to -understand way to determine a community ' s maintained that open lands were interim uses that bottom line by apportioning the direct costs of should be developed to their " highest and best use . " public services to specific land uses . We call the The three Massachusetts studies corroborated technique cost of community services studies . the pattern of earlier findings . Farm , forest, and COCS studies analyze demands on public open lands far more than paid for themselves , services by assessing the financial contribution They helped support increasing demand for made by all land uses , including farm , forest and residential services . For every dollar of revenue open lands . The studies compare annual revenues to raised from the residential sector , Massachusetts public sector expenses . Financial snapshots , they towns spent $ 1 . 12 on public services . But for do not predict the fiscal impact of future land use every dollar raised by undeveloped lands , towns decisions but do give communities a better baseline spent 33 cents , leaving 67 cents to offset other of budgetary information . expenses . 2