County Farm Preservation Program in Need of Cash
Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 18:00 CDT
Aug. 17--About $22 million is needed to continue the agricultural land-preservation program for four years at the same pace that has earned it the status as the top such program in the state, Berks County officials said Tuesday.
Commissioners Judith L. Schwank, Mark C. Scott and Thomas W. Gajewski Sr. met with members of the preservation board, the planning commission and residents to discuss the program's future.
No decisions were made, but Schwank, board chairwoman, said the discussions will continue as part of the 2006 budget process.
Tami S. Hildebrand, preservation director, projected that by the end of the year the county will have about $2 million left from the $31 million borrowed for the program in a 1999 bond issue.
Owners of 78 farms are in the process of joining the program, which pays up to $2,000 an acre in exchange for a promise never to sell the land for development.
There is a backlog of 186 farms, totaling about 19,000 acres, Hildebrand said.
To date the county has preserved 352 farms and 40,454 acres.
Mark Lundquist, the county's financial adviser, said the commissioners could add the needed money to the old bond issue at a cost of about $1 million per year.
The commissioners would have to find budget cuts of $1 million annually or raise taxes to cover the cost, Budget Director Robert J. Patrizio Jr. said.
A tax increase would amount to about $12.50 annually on a property assessed at $200,000, Scott said.
Scott said he is concerned that at some point fewer farm owners are going to participate because the $2,000 will be too low.
But Dr. Robert C. Ziegenfus, chairman of the preservation board; board members James R. Coker, Oley Township, and Russell L. Swinehart, Lower Heidelberg Township; and planning commission member Lloyd Hopkins, Oley Township, said farmers join the program because they believe in preservation, not because they want the money.
Mount Penn resident Ronald Stauffer and his wife, Rosie Skomitz, said farms that spread sewage sludge should not be allowed in the program because sludge is harmful to people and the environment.
Scott said the state-set guidelines are not under the county's control.
Schwank said the commissioners should consider adding a program to preserve open space, such as woodlands and recreational areas.
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Source: Reading Eagle
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