8. SR 12-11-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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FORUM irom page 8 ?slowly, while Lake Elino is•experi- -encing moderate growth and Farmington is being developed rapidly. Perhaps the must ironic finding of this study is that sprawling resi- deniiafrr ee effo ments can- resu 1 in less funding for schools. In Minnesota, state aid is used to hold down property taxes. Because this aid is usually distributed based on population or school enrollment, it increases the share of education funding attributable to the residen- tial sector. Minnesota's school aid is dependent on the total property val- uation of a school district. as well as being a function of enrollment, thus school districts receive less slate aid per student as growth occurs and properly tax bases expand. Normally, the expanded tax base source to ser- :found. This analysis points out that Minnesota's tax structure makes it very difficull to determine who is 'paying the true costs of sprawling residential development and who is benefrlting from it. And it notes that farmland protec- tion may be financially beneficial not only because of its contribution to the tax base, but also because it holds down property tax valuation. Lower property tax valuation leads to more state aid, which reduces the share of local government costs paid for by local residents and property owners. The lax revenue as compared to Cost of services ratios this anal sis moorts are simi at to those found in revenue from Fes men[ was lost wl delivering public services — from . marls, sewers and parking lots to education and public safety — was considered. A study released Iasi year by Utah Slate University's economics department found that for every $1 in revenue collected by residential r art tax revenue in One o t fat states counties, I. 7 in services was being provided. ese studies come at a It= when sprawling growth is destroy- ing Minnesota's farmland at an alarming rate. The 20 -county growth corridor from St. Cloud to the Twin Cities to Rochester is the fastest-'growing metropolitan area from the northern plains to the east - em seaboard. The seven - county Twin Cities metropolitan area has lost 235 square miles of agricultural Enid to urbanization since 1970. Since 1980, most of that growth has occurred in second -ring suburbs. The Twin Cities area is the third least dense y populalod metropolitan region in tie country, but one of the fastest growing geographically. The amount o metro -area an evoted to urban land uses has increased by 42 percent since 1970, almost dou- ble the 22 percent population growth rate during this same period. These trends are accelerated by an all too common attitude that farmland is property that is "vacant' or "wasted;' until i( sprouts subdivi- sions. But ag acres fuel a powerful econbmic engine in the region. Despite rapid urbanization in these counties, metro-area agricultural activity produced more than 5500 million worth of farm output and generated 7,000 jobs in 1990. Nationally, 56 percent of agricultur- al production comes from counties on the edge of cities. Farmland and the Tux Bill con- cludes (hat Minnesota and metro- area communities should continue ti support existing farmland proteclion programs such as Ntetropolitan Agricultural Preserves and Green Acres. For ecotionric and environ- mental reasons, the study recom- mends exploring other techniques Ic retain this valuable resource base, such as purchase of conservation easements. The statistics reported in this study will justify such measures. Perhaps even more importantly, they will help put to rest The fallacy dial the most valuable crop farnilam can produce is residential taxes. Lee Running is program director of the Land Stewardship Project in Marine Oi St Croix. •