Great Lake Bulletin Winter 1997

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Projects Across Michigan Take
On Sprawl

Sprawl Raises Property Taxes
Aland trust in Washtenaw County has concluded that maintaining agricultural and other open space lands substantial- ly reduces long-term government expenses, and moderates property taxes.
Graduate students at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment spent last summer con- ducting research in Washtenaw County's Scio Township, just west of Ann Arbor. Their report, published by the Potawatomi Land Trust, found that the cost of providing services to residen- tial properties cost $1.40 for every dollar in tax revenues those properties contributed. In contrast, farm land cost just 62 cents for every dollar raised, and commercial land cost 26 cents.
The study's results are serving as a basis for citizens to call for the establishment and funding of a purchase of development rights program focusing on the area's most productive farm- land.The program would be funded by a small property tax increase.
Under such a program, farmers receive payments equal to the difference between the land's value for agriculture and its value for residential development. In return, an easement is placed on the land to keep it from being developed.
Peninsula Township, north of Traverse City, established Michigan's first such program for the purchase of development rights in 1994.
"It's pay a little now or pay a lot later," said Barry Lonik, executive director of the Potawatomi Land Trust. "Purchasing development rights is a one-time tax increase. Building new roads, new schools, and new sewers results in much higher taxes that rise year after year."
For instance, Mr. Lonik said, citizens in the Dexter Community School District, which covers about half of the study area, spent more than $26 million just three years ago to build and outfit new schools, which already are at capacity for the year 2000.Taxpayers now are facing another bond measure to build more schools. Paying for development rights would have resulted in a short-term tax increase that would never have to be renewed, Mr. Lonik said.
The study was supported by a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation and the Michigan Environmental Council.u

Potawatomi Land Trust, P.O. Box 130122,Ann Arbor, MI 48113-0122, Tel. 313-449-7229.

IMAGE imgs/GLBwi9711.gif

Michigan's population isn't growing -- it's shifting, generally from older cities and sub- urbs to once-small towns and the previously rural countryside.As the population relo- cates, existing infrastructure like roads, schools, utility lines, and sewers are aban- doned. Brand new infrastructure then must be built, at enormous public expense, per- petuating the cycle of suburban sprawl.

Land Stewardship Initiative

Julie Stoneman, Director of Land Programs at the Michigan Environmental Council, says a two-tiered strategy has developed statewide among leaders pursuing growth management policies. While pressing the Legislature for improved land use laws, participants in MEC's Land Stewardship Initiative also are seeking to build support at the grass roots. "What we need is to continue establishing new partnerships," said Ms. Stoneman. "That means we try to support as many local projects as we can."
The Initiative now is supporting more than 20 programs across the state. One of them is in Muskegon County, where the Lake Michigan Federation received a MEC grant to organize a planning workshop that attracted nearly 100 participants. Local government leaders joined business owners, environmentalists, educators, and professional planners in identifying the region's top land use problems, particularly the loss of farmland.The Federation also is conducting two public surveys, and preparing a report for distribution in Muskegon, Kent and Ottawa counties.u

Michigan Environmental Council, 115 W. Allegan, Suite #10B, Lansing, MI 48933 Tel. 517-487-9539; Lake Michigan Federation, 161 Muskegon Mall, Comerica Building #502, Muskegon, MI 49440, Tel. 616-722-5116.

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	Projects Across Michigan Take On Sprawl
		Sprawl Raises Property Taxes Aland trust in Washtenaw County has concluded that maintaining agricultural and other open space lands substantial- ly reduces long-term government expenses, and moderates property taxes. Graduate students at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment spent last summer con- ducting research in Washtenaw County's Scio Township, just west of Ann Arbor. Their report, published by the Potawatomi Land Trust, found that the cost of providing services to residen- tial properties cost $1.40 for every dollar in tax revenues those properties contributed. In contrast, farm land cost just 62 cents for every dollar raised, and commercial land cost 26 cents. The study's results are serving as a basis for citizens to call for the establishment and funding of a purchase of development rights program focusing on the area's most productive farm- land.The program would be funded by a small property tax increase. Under such a program, farmers receive payments equal to the difference between the land's value for agriculture and its value for residential development. In return, an easement is placed on the land to keep it from being developed. Peninsula Township, north of Traverse City, established Michigan's first such program for the purchase of development rights in 1994. "It's pay a little now or pay a lot later," said Barry Lonik, executive director of the Potawatomi Land Trust. "Purchasing development rights is a one-time tax increase. Building new roads, new schools, and new sewers results in much higher taxes that rise year after year." For instance, Mr. Lonik said, citizens in the Dexter Community School District, which covers about half of the study area, spent more than $26 million just three years ago to build and outfit new schools, which already are at capacity for the year 2000.Taxpayers now are facing another bond measure to build more schools. Paying for development rights would have resulted in a short-term tax increase that would never have to be renewed, Mr. Lonik said. The study was supported by a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation and the Michigan Environmental Council.u Potawatomi Land Trust, P.O. Box 130122,Ann Arbor, MI 48113-0122, Tel. 313-449-7229.

Michigan's population isn't growing -- it's shifting, generally from older cities and sub- urbs to once-small towns and the previously rural countryside.As the population relo- cates, existing infrastructure like roads, schools, utility lines, and sewers are aban- doned. Brand new infrastructure then must be built, at enormous public expense, per- petuating the cycle of suburban sprawl.
Land Stewardship Initiative Julie Stoneman, Director of Land Programs at the Michigan Environmental Council, says a two-tiered strategy has developed statewide among leaders pursuing growth management policies. While pressing the Legislature for improved land use laws, participants in MEC's Land Stewardship Initiative also are seeking to build support at the grass roots. "What we need is to continue establishing new partnerships," said Ms. Stoneman. "That means we try to support as many local projects as we can." The Initiative now is supporting more than 20 programs across the state. One of them is in Muskegon County, where the Lake Michigan Federation received a MEC grant to organize a planning workshop that attracted nearly 100 participants. Local government leaders joined business owners, environmentalists, educators, and professional planners in identifying the region's top land use problems, particularly the loss of farmland.The Federation also is conducting two public surveys, and preparing a report for distribution in Muskegon, Kent and Ottawa counties.u Michigan Environmental Council, 115 W. Allegan, Suite #10B, Lansing, MI 48933 Tel. 517-487-9539; Lake Michigan Federation, 161 Muskegon Mall, Comerica Building #502, Muskegon, MI 49440, Tel. 616-722-5116. (continued on next page)