Kudos to the Commissioners.

Berks County Commissioners have put their money where their mouth is when it comes to supporting our number one industry, agriculture.  With a unanimous vote on July 24th, they froze the Clean and Green agricultural values, rolling them back to 2001 levels.  This action is the result of several months of discussion and research by the county’s farm organizations, the assessment office, and the Department of Agriculture.

Since 2001, Berks farmers enrolled in Clean and Green have seen their taxes increase annually.  While other property owners have not been reassessed since 1994, farmers and forest owners have had their real estate revalued every year.  This was the implementation year for a 2000 law designed to clear up confusion in the Clean and Green program.  Unfortunately, the formula that was created to revalue the classes of soils in the three categories of Clean and Green enrollment resulted in increases for the agricultural land values on an annual basis.  The question in the minds of Berks County farmers earlier this spring was “Where will these increases stop?”

The Berks County Pomona Grange passed a resolution in March asking for the Commissioners to review the system used to value Clean and Green parcels and stop the ever-increasing tax bills.  That began the dialogue between the Commissioners, the farm community, and county staff.  It was an opportunity to share concerns about rising costs to farmers.  It was a time to point out that Berks County and most farmers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are corn consumers, feeding it to livestock.  Higher grain prices mean higher feed costs on the farm.  And since the agricultural-value forumula used by the Department of Agriculture is weighted with a factor based on corn grain prices, the farmers expressed serious concerns about the current trends and how this might impact a ten-year average.  It got complicated, to say the least. 

The Commissioners’ vote on Thursday sends a strong message to the  farm community that these three leaders recognize agriculture as a key industry and a vital resource for all Berks County citizens.  They value the diverse enterprises that operate on the fertile land, from dairy to silviculture, and everything in between.

According to Doug Wolfgang of the Department of Agriculture, Berks County is not alone in deciding to abandon the formula to annually evaluate agricultural values.  He said about half of the counties in Pennsylvania are using a different method to deal with Clean and Green properties.

By freezing the agricultural values, the Berks County Commissioners have given farmers and forest owners more predictability when it comes to budgeting their local tax obligations into their operating costs.  And, it has saved the farmers enrolled in Clean and Green nearly $155,000 in higher taxes at the county level.  At a time when everyone’s pocketbooks are being stretched, those savings to the farmers are significant.  We understand it wasn’t easy for the Commissioners to give up those extra revenues in a tight budget year.  It took courage to stand up for agriculture and level the playing field when dealing with unfair farm reassessments.

When Pennsylvania’s constitution was amended by the General Assembly three decades ago to give preferential tax assessment to farmers and forest owners, the state policymakers understood there would be increasing pressures on these industries in the future to sell out and turn fields into houses or industrial sites.  The Clean and Green contract that landowners sign is a commitment to keep the land in production for at least seven years.  When that land is converted, there are serious penalties.

The benefit of lower taxes is a privilege under law that only comes when farms and forests continue to be used to raise food and lumber.  If that use changes, it is only fair that the tax benefits end and the interest to all citizens be repaid.  While the law allows for some limited exceptions, farmers enrolled in Clean and Green need to review the rules before selling any portion of their property or entering into other non-agricultural enterprises.  This may affect the farm’s eligibility for the constitutionally permitted preferential tax savings.

As the Berks County Agricultural Coordinator, I was pleased to assist the farm organizations in their effort to affect a change in policy at the county level.  The farmers took time out of their busy days to come to the 13th Floor of the County Services Center in the City of Reading to talk with the Commissioners.  They followed through with informational meetings, telephone calls, and letters encouraging action on this issue.  And, the Commissioners listened and acted on their request.

This is truly grassroots government in action.  It pays to get involved.  

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