D4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 6,1980
Farmland preservation is
just like the weather
Everybody talks about it,
and nobody does anything
about it At least that’s the
way it is most places
In Delaware there’s been a
lot of talk about farmland
preservation, but now
somebody is doing
something about it
Several months ago,
Governor Pete DuPont
established an advisory
committee on farmland
preservation and that
committee has been meeting
since last spring Recently it
held a series of public
meetings aimed at getting
reactions to its plan
That plan could save
thousands of Delaware acres
from the developer over the
next few years
For a small urban state,
Delaware has a lot of farm
land. In fact, more than
half of its total land area is
so listed right now But the
advisory committee thinks
the state could lose almost
one-fifth of its current land
area to development over
the next 20 years unless
something is done
So the committee has
developed a plan. It involves
agricultural zones and
financial and other in
centives to landowners who
keep their acres within those
zones.
Z vuf.
Regional Sales
Manager
Ray Kuhns
67 Roland Ave
Chambersburg, PA 17201
717-264 3814
Distributors
PENNSYLVANIA
Donald Everitt
Miffhntown
717-436-2561
W.F. Caring Co.
Honesdale
717-253-0187
Briefly, here’s how it
works Farmers and other
agricultural landowners
would receive state income
tax credits for those areas
located in exclusive
agricultural zones The
committee is estimating that
a tax credit of $5 per acre
might cost the state as much
as $3 million annually
That’s assuming that 600,000
acres of fairoland would be'
in those zones. That’s a lot of
money, a considerable in
centive to farmers, and still
the committee feels only a
small portion of the state’s
budget
According to the plan,
farmland placed in those
exclusive agricultural zones
would be exempt from all
general property and school
taxes except those directly
benefiting agriculture, such
as farm drainage taxes
Farm residences, however,
would still be subject to the
same taxes as neighboring
nonfarm residences
This might result in
another $2 million annual
loss of revenues to local
governments and school
districts.
It’s the committee’s hope
the state would compensate
the affected governmental
units until those units could
develop other ways to raise
money
Another sweetener in the
Zero Manufacturing Company
Washington, Missouri 63090
RSI
TEL (314)239-6721
Telex 44-2476 ZERO
Marvin i. Horst
Lebanon
717-272-0871
W & i Dairy Sales
Oxford
717-529-2569
NEW JERSEY
Hockenbury Electric
Rmgoes
201-781 5950
DELAWARE
Hiott Refrigeration
Wyoming
302-697-3050
Farm dams require permits
HARRISBURG - Penn
sylvania Department of
Environmental Resources
Thursday reminded owners
of dams, water obstructions
and encroachments that
they must have state per
mits.
Owners of such barriers
have^until Thursday, Jan. 1,
plan calls for the Delaware
inheritance tax on farms in
exclusive agricultural zones
to be deferred and paid later
in installments at low in-
terest
The committee isn’t
suggesting that every
tillable acre in Delaware be
tied up in these agricultural
zones It wants to exclude
farmland that is already in
the path of urban develop
ment
As a way of encouraging
these farms to stay in
agriculture as long as
possible, the committee is
suggesting five-year con
tracts subject to yearly
renewals whereby lan
downers would agree to stay
in agriculture in return for
state income tax credits
There are other provisions
in the proposal, some of
them farmers will like and
some they won’t like That’s
why public hearings were
held.
The committee is now
sifting through the in
formation presented at the
meetings plus any written
statements it received. Then
after some rewriting of its
draft report, it will send final
recommendations to
Governor DuPont by the end
of the year
Bear in mind, this is an
advisory committee that will
simply be making recom
mendations
What happens after that
will be up to the Governor
and the Delaware
legislature
MARYLAND
Laurel Run Farm
Supply
Grantsville
301-895-5567
Roop & Sons
Linwood
301-775 2127
Warfield’s
Refrigeration
Frederick
301-663-0088
to apply tor and secure a
permit from the department
DER said that state permits
from its predecessor
agencies, the former Forests
and Waters Department’s
Water and Power Resources
Board and the Water Supply
Commission, are valid and
owners possessing such
permits need not apply
FISHER AND STOLTZFUS TRAILER SALES
Call 717-768-3832 between 7 a.m. & 9 a.m.
or call 717-354-0723 after 6 p.m. East of New Holland, Pa.
Check Our Prices Before You Buy, We Have All Types Of Trailers
FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN f**\ (LJ
ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER
LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA |
m
We will make your dollars grow to Giant-sized proportions for your years
of retirement. Those of you who are self-employed and/or not covered by
a qualified pension plan could be eligible for an Individual Retirement
Account at FFS&L. Call or stop in for more information. You may qualify
for an IRA and the benefit of a tax deferrment while having that extra
cushion for retirement
IS? ipfi First Federal
' To*r SinqslmrM ( || || SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER
I to JIM W
L - 23 East King Street Lancaster Phone 393-0601
• 69 E Main St 1 i*'t/
Phono 6^6-o^^
♦ 100 t Wain St New Holland •24 E Mam St Mt toy • East Towne Moll Office
Phone 354 4427 Phone 653-8121 Phone 39X3488
* Pork o*v Center Lane
(in Sears. Mail) Phone 299 3745
While permits have been
required smce 1913, DER
was given the right to assess
a permit fee by the Dam
Safety and Encroachment
Act signed November 28,
1978 ana amended October
23, 1979. The Environment
Quality Board set a sliding
schedule of fees for permit
applications for dams, en-
MONEY FOR RETIREMENT
• 335 fifth St OuartYViile • 519 A teaman Ave
Phono 786-1010 Millersville Phone 672 4665
croachments, water ov
structions, dredging am
stream clearance. Fees var
from $5O to $2OO, dependinj
on the extent of th
operations.
Detailed information or
permit applications u
available from DER Bureai
of Dams and Waterwaj
Management, Box 2357
Harrisburg, t*a. 17120.
Standard Livestock traiier
with metal top sleeper
van.. Comes in
16,20,24,28 ft. lengths,
brakes on all wheels.
b-
id
iry
•g