Letter to the Editor

Date: May 10, 2006

Survey says ... implement PDR

Skip the referendum and let the County Board do its job

The Washington County Board got overwhelming support from citizens last week for its recent decision to preserve prime farm land.

Back in March, the previous board voted 17-11 to use a portion of the county sales tax to fund a PDR (purchase of development rights) program for farms with the best soils.

Last week, a survey of county residents showed resounding support for a PDR program. It was a professional survey conducted for the county’s ongoing comprehensive planning process. With 1,205 respondents, a large sample, it has the virtue of being very valid statistically.

On the question of whether to protect prime farm lands, 85 percent said they agreed or strongly agreed with a preservation program. This heavy support lines up with all previous surveys in the county on that question. There has been complete consistency over the years, whether the survey was done at the county or municipal level.

Thus, the people in the county have spoken.

There was some talk at the board level of a referendum on the issue. Given the strong results of the latest survey, that clearly is unnecessary.

For one, referendums cost money. Secondly, the County Board has never used that device as a governance tool, so why now? Thirdly, it would slow down implementation of the PDR program.

Meanwhile, at the state level, a task force created by Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen has come to the same conclusion - that PDRs should be used statewide to save prime, contiguous farm lands.

The Working Lands Initiative will recommend in its final report this summer that the state provide matching funds for PDR programs at the local level. It also will advocate the creation of agriculture enterprise zones that segregate working farms from residential and commercial development. Such zones would work in tandem with PDRs.

Zoning alone doesn’t work, because a retiring farmer lobbies town officials hard for development - and often wins - as a way to raise a retirement fund.

By paying a retiring farmer for the development rights, and then reserving the land for agriculture for all times, that conflict is resolved.

A Wisconsin delegation, including three representatives from Washington County, toured three leading states in farm land preservation - Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey - and found the same solution. A combination of exclusive agricultural zoning and the PDRs is what has been working in those states.

That combination, along with comprehensive land use planning, has been endorsed by representatives of a wide variety of interests on the state task force: the farm bureau, municipal associations, environmentalists, business people and the realtors’ and builders’ associations.

Developers know that well planned communities create higher property values, while poor planning and conflicting uses reduce property values.

Business people want the farm economy to stay one of the state’s strengths and want to keep the rural character of their communities, which makes it easier to recruit and retain talented employees.

There is plenty of contiguous farm land left in Washington County, but it is being chewed up at an increasing pace. So the time to act is now - before the prime land is gone and before prices move even higher.

County residents also gave elected officials guidance on how to fund the PDR program. Asked about their preferences on funding sources, 56 percent favored use of the sales tax, with less than a quarter each favoring the property tax or a special assessment.

Some of the eastern states have floated big bond issues to jump start their programs. That has the advantage of making major purchases before galloping inflation in land prices takes hold.

The last County Board earmarked 10 percent of the county sales tax for PDRs at the outset. That would yield about $800,000 a year that would be matched with state, federal and private dollars.

Bonds could come later, if the program proves itself out.

The new County Board, which just took office, faces the task of implementing the farmland program adopted by its predecessor. With nine new faces, a new chairman and new committee assignments, supervisors will want to take time to get to know the ins and outs of PDRs and agricultural zoning.

A trip out east by more supervisors would make sense, as would bringing in farmers and public officials with experience in preservation programs. We can learn from their mistakes and successes.

Importantly, the supervisors can move decisively because they now know beyond doubt that the people of the county are squarely behind them on this pressing issue.

(John Torinus is CEO of Serigraph, Inc. in West Bend and a past general manager of the Daily News.)

By JOHN TORINUS