Media Story

Farmland preservation program advances

Washington County panel backs purchase of development rights

Date: March 8, 2006
By DON BEHM

West Bend - Washington County would become the first county in Wisconsin to pay farmers for protecting privately owned agricultural land from development, under a program recommended Wednesday by a County Board committee.

The board will be asked to establish the program, known as purchase of development rights, at its meeting next Tuesday. A resolution adopted Wednesday by the committee seeks a minimum of $800,000 a year to finance the new land conservation effort.

The fast-growing county must act now to preserve large blocks of its best farmland or lose much of it to subdivisions in the near future, Supervisor Dan Stoffel said. He is a Town of Kewaskum farmer and chairman of the citizens task force that drafted the proposal.

One goal of the program would be to retain farming as a vital part of the county's economy, he said.

A 2004 study by the University of Wisconsin Extension found that agriculture in the county supports nearly 5,000 jobs, both on and off farms, and pumps more than $629 million into the local economy.

If a purchase of development rights program is approved by the board, the county would pay willing landowners for the value of development rights to a piece of property, then place a conservation easement on the property's deed restricting future development. Sellers of development rights retain ownership and pay property taxes on the land.

Stoffel's task force suggested that the program could be funded with a combination of revenue generated by the county's half-cent sales tax and sales of bonds.

Those dollars likely would be matched through federal and state grants, landowner donations and contributions from citizens, Stoffel said.

The value of development rights is the difference between the amount a developer might pay for a property and its current value as agricultural fields or woods.

Currently, only the Town of Dunn in Dane County, the City of La Crosse, and the Town of Bayfield in Bayfield County fund purchase of development rights programs.

Media Story

Farmland preservation program advances

Washington County panel backs purchase of development rights

Date: March 8, 2006 By DON BEHM

West Bend - Washington County would become the first county in Wisconsin to pay farmers for protecting privately owned agricultural land from development, under a program recommended Wednesday by a County Board committee.

The board will be asked to establish the program, known as purchase of development rights, at its meeting next Tuesday. A resolution adopted Wednesday by the committee seeks a minimum of $800,000 a year to finance the new land conservation effort.

The fast-growing county must act now to preserve large blocks of its best farmland or lose much of it to subdivisions in the near future, Supervisor Dan Stoffel said. He is a Town of Kewaskum farmer and chairman of the citizens task force that drafted the proposal.

One goal of the program would be to retain farming as a vital part of the county's economy, he said.

A 2004 study by the University of Wisconsin Extension found that agriculture in the county supports nearly 5,000 jobs, both on and off farms, and pumps more than $629 million into the local economy.

Stoffel's task force suggested that the program could be funded with a combination of revenue generated by the county's half-cent sales tax and sales of bonds.

Those dollars likely would be matched through federal and state grants, landowner donations and contributions from citizens, Stoffel said.

The value of development rights is the difference between the amount a developer might pay for a property and its current value as agricultural fields or woods.

Currently, only the Town of Dunn in Dane County, the City of La Crosse, and the Town of Bayfield in Bayfield County fund purchase of development rights programs.

Date: March 8, 2006
By DON BEHM