The price of farmland protection

NORTH EAST — The Farmland Protection Planning Committee (FPPC) on Aug. 3 at the Millerton American Legion Hall grappled with a number of issues that have slowly arisen regarding a proposed Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan.

The top issue, raised by local real estate agent Ron Steed, of Steed Real Estate, has to do with a 2 percent transfer tax that he said would be used to finance the farmland preservation plan.

“The state of New York created the Community Preservation Act and the town [of North East] went to the Legislature to ask permission to grant home rule. By being granted home rule the town was given the authority to tax for the purpose of open space farmland protection, preserving buildings, etc.,†Steed said. “Once you get authority, typically towns try to create a farmland protection plan. In the year and a half that the town has done its planning, not once has it mentioned in the plan how it plans on paying for it, [and it plans to do it] with that 2 percent transfer tax. To not let the public know this [tax] is part and parcel of this plan is totally irresponsible.â€

Dairy farmer John Perotti of Lone Pine Farm was among the farmers who attended early FPPC meetings then stopped.

“I was very upset with the way things were going,†he said. “I’m not against the plan, but I am against it being floated locally to raise local tax dollars to support it. If the state wants the program, it’s all well and good. In my opinion it’s not something that’s going to help save any farmers. It’s strictly an open space plan. And I’m not for the transfer tax. Most people worked hard for generations and if an elderly person wants to sell their property that they worked hard for their whole lives they shouldn’t have to pay tax. Local taxpayers have plenty of burdens on them already.â€

Steed, too, emphasized that even though it’s supposed to be the buyer who would pay the transfer tax, it could easily be reversed.

“The argument is it’s the buyer who has to pay the 2 percent, not the seller,†he said. “But if you think a buyer who is going to spend $1 million and is being charged $20,000 extra in tax is not going to negotiate that into the deal, that’s not realistic. The seller is going to pay that in the end, not the buyer.â€

Just the addition of that transfer tax onto the asking price alone is going to scare potential buyers away, Steed added. He said it will have a negative effect on real estate transactions in the town and that buyers will end up looking elsewhere for property.

But FPPC member and chair of the CAC (Conservation Advisory Council) Dianne Engleke said they’ve got it wrong. The 2 percent transfer tax is not a given in the plan, it’s only one option.

“It’s a misunderstanding on their part. The misunderstanding is that the town approving the farmland protection plan would automatically trigger the 2 percent transfer tax,†she said. “The transfer tax would require a referendum of the town people that would have to be called by the Town Board. It is not automatic. If the referendum fails, there is no transfer tax.â€

Engleke said the transfer tax is only one means of financing the plan, and very well may not be an option endorsed by the public. Other options include more traditional ones, like taking out a bond to buy development rights or using money from a fund dedicated for that purpose. There are even more options mentioned in the plan, which Engleke suggests people read online to learn about. The plan can be found on the North East Community Center’s Web site: neccmillerton.org.

Aside from the transfer tax concerns, Perotti said he had other issues with the plan, namely that there are better ways to protect the future of farming. One idea he had was modeled after the Warner Theatre in Torrington, Conn.

“I wanted to set up a not-for-profit, and get donations from wealthy individuals, big corporations and businesses, have a board of directors, build a museum, sell agricultural products, put in cattle equipment, a dairy, a small processing plant for milk and cheese, a slaughter house as well, a vegetable processing area, etc.,†he said. “I may be thinking grandiose, but I’m kind of a visionary. This is a community effort to save something important in the community. I think that’s much better than taxing someone who can’t afford to pay the tax.â€

His other suggestion is to give tax breaks, tax incentives and even offer tax free benefits to local farmers. According to Perotti, the farming situation in North East is so degraded right now it’s in worse shape than it was in the 1930s, with only four dairy farms left in town. He said high taxes and assessments make surviving on a farm especially difficult.

The dairy farmer also suggested the FPPC look at models in other states for inspiration. He said farmland protections plans in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Virginia are just a few that could offer tips on how to better structure a plan that protects farmers and their land in a realistic and comprehensive way.

According to Engleke that’s exactly what the committee has done throughout the process. With each revision of the plan, concerns from the local farming community have been incorporated into the document, which was created with the help of the American Farmland Trust (AFT).

“I think in this new plan we are acknowledging problems farmers have had with their assessments and tax bills and we have tried to find tools to help them,†she said. “That was moved up to a very prominent place in the plan. It was never an add-on, but it’s really prominent now. Farmers said they’re having problems with assessments and problems with taxes and we heard them.â€

The current plan is on the NECC Web site; the newly revised plan is not posted just yet. Once it is, it will include all comments from the Aug. 3 meeting, as well as all comments that followed it, plus comments and responses from members of the FPPC’s steering committee.

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