OHIO LEGISLATURE State representative revives farmland proposal

The lawmaker says his 'agricultural security areas' offer flexibility.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Despite the elimination of state income-tax credit incentives, a state lawmaker says he thinks his proposal to encourage farmers to create "agricultural security areas" will help preserve farmland.
"This is an alternative that's voluntary with the landowner and with the cooperation of local governments and with neighbors," state Rep. Tony Core, R-Rushsylvania, said Monday.
Under Core's bill, which is pending before an Ohio House committee, agricultural security areas could be established by landowners' voluntarily dedicating areas for farming for 10 years.
Under the bill, local government officials would also promise to keep development from encroaching on the areas.
The proposed agricultural security zone must be at least 500 acres and must be contiguous, Core said. The land in question can have more than one owner, he said.
Alternative measure
Core said his bill, which is similar to one he introduced in the last two-year Legislature that ended in 2002, might be an alternative to the Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program. In that program, a deed restriction permanently prevents a farm from being used for anything other than agriculture.
Payments to the farmers under the Clean Ohio program -- the difference between the land's worth as farmland and what a developer would pay for it -- comes from the $400 million Clean Ohio Fund, approved by voters in 2000.
Core said the Clean Ohio program might not be flexible for some farmers.
"If their neighbors develop their land such that there is only one farm left in the area, that farm almost becomes unsustainable," Core said. "This is much more flexible."
New version
Core's previous bill included state income-tax incentives for making the no-development pledge. But the west-central Ohio lawmaker asked for that provision to be dropped in the wake of the state's budget problems.
Core's bill would still allow farmers to get local property-tax breaks on a new building, structure or improvement dedicated to farming in an agricultural security zone, if county commissioners and township trustees agree.
At least one farming advocacy group supports Core's bill.
"We feel it's a good first step toward giving some local governments and farmers the ability to enter into an agreement to protect farmland," said Larry Gearhardt, director of local affairs with the Ohio State Farm Bureau Federation.
Gearhardt said the farm bureau, which has 217,000 members statewide, likes the fact that it's a voluntary program.