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Economics of Unplanned Growth: Cost of Community Services Study - Cindy Haygood
Published: 1/9/2005
2004 Southeast Watershed Roundtable Presentaion Click here for full agenda
In 2001, the Rolling Hills Resource Conservation and Development Council began working with Carroll County, Georgia to establish a farmland protection initiative. The Carroll County Farmland and Rural Preservation Partnership was formed as a partnership between the RC&D Council, the Cooperative Extension Service, and Farm Bureau. The first project adopted by the Partnership was the funding of a Cost of Community Services study. This study was conducted by University of Georgia, Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics. The purpose of conducting this study was to compare various different land uses (specifically agriculture and open space, commercial/industrial, and residential) in regards to tax revenues and costs. This study became a starting point for a growing and successful farmland preservation program. Many misperceptions exist regarding land uses and fiscal responsibility. For example, many believe that residential development will lower property taxes by increasing the tax base and that open lands, including productive farms and forests, are interim uses awaiting conversion to their “highest and best use”. A Cost of Community Services Study is a case study approach used by communities to determine the fiscal contribution of existing local land uses. It is a snap shot in time that shows costs versus revenues for each type of land use. These studies can be used a tool for local leaders in communities to make informed land use and policy decisions. This methodology was developed by the American Farmland Trust in the mid 1980s and is an inexpensive and reliable tool to measure direct fiscal relationships. Since then, COCS studies have been conducted in at least 102 communities in the United States.
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