While it might surprise city officials in fast-growing towns, it’s not news to agriculture advocates: farming does pay. That’s the finding of a new study from the American Farmland Trust that looked at how much money different kinds of land generate in taxes in two Lake County municipalities.
What it found is that in places like Madison Township, new homes receive about $1.25 worth of services for every $1 of revenue they generate.
Maurine Orndorff is with the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, which commissioned the study. She says there’s a simple reason that farmland actually creates revenue surpluses.
ORNDORFF: Cows don’t go to school and chickens don’t call 911. You don’t have to provide as many services to the farmland.
Orndorff hopes the study will convince more towns and cities to preserve more open space and encourage local agriculture. But the message, she says is not that towns shouldn’t ever build new homes or try to attract businesses.
ORNDORFF: We’re not anti-development. We’re talking about having a balance of land use because the residential development doesn’t generate enough income for the services it requires.
And the authors say that’s true across the region and country. Because of that, this study is generating some interest among proponents of regionalism. As the director of regional partnerships at the Fund for Our Economic Future, Laura Steinbrink believes this study could help encourage more regional planning and revenue sharing across Northeast Ohio.
STEINBRINK: Because to suggest that two neighboring towns or even Ashtabula to Lorain would compete with each other, and that would be a win-win, is actually a lose. Because we spend so much time competing with our neighbor that we’re not really competing in the global marketplace.
She wants towns and counties to work together when deciding where to put a new business or a housing development. Places with lots of existing sewers and power lines, for instance, could revitalize their housing, whereas places like Lake County with fertile ground, could develop a new farm or winery. Those communities could then share the revenue.
STEINBRINK: We have over the last thirty years, had dramatic growth in our infrastructure in Northeast Ohio, coupled with dramatic losses in our population, and/or stagnation in our population. And compared to other regions in the country, we have way over-invested in our infrastructure.
About 25 miles west of Cleveland, North Ridgeville is showing no signs of slowing its growth of infrastructure and new homes. The once predominantly agricultural town has seen explosive growth in recent years. Its population has soared 30% in just the last 8 years, and Mayor Dave Gillock believes those homes have helped turn a revenue deficit into a surplus. Gillock says he is interested in regional collaboration and revenue sharing, but he’s not turning his back on further growth.
GILLOCK: In a way, it’s our turn. That may not be logical in terms of overall regional planning, but Westlake, Avon Lake, for example, have enjoyed the fruits of their growth over the past few years and they’re built out.
That kind of competitiveness is a big roadblock to regionalism. Laura Steinbrink is skeptical about the success of places like North Ridgeville, though. She believes more towns in Northeast Ohio will go broke if this kind of uncontrolled growth continues.
STEINBRINK: The time is now. If we don’t do something dramatic, I don’t even know how ugly it will be.