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Sussex County Council voted to join with the Sussex County Land Trust and the state to protect nearly 500 acres of farmland – as long as the General Assembly leaves the real estate transfer tax alone.
Concern over how pending legislation could devastate the county budget caused some councilmen to balk at the annual land trust recommendation – even though the money could be used to leverage $2.4 million in state and federal funds.
The yet-to-be-introduced bill, which has nothing to do with the Sussex County Land Trust but everything to do with the county’s revenue stream, would chip away at a portion of the county’s share of the state’s 3 percent real estate transfer tax.
If the state withholds a portion of the tax, it could cost the county anywhere from $4 million to $5 million, based on a 25 percent cut, according to Council President Finley Jones.
That figure was enough to scare some councilmen into holding back on a commitment of $900,000 to preserve open space.
Wendy Baker, president and CEO of the Sussex County Land Trust, said the agency was prepared to contribute $300,000 from private funds to add to the county’s $900,000 for a total local share of $1.2 million, which would be matched dollar for dollar from state and federal funds for a grand total of $3.6 million.
Jones was hesitant to commit the funds until the fate of the legislation was known.
“When the state is ready to take $4 or $5 million from us, we can’t be nice guys,” Jones said. “I have no problem with the program. You have to understand where we are coming from.”
Councilman Dale Dukes was also concerned. “I would rather wait and see how we are treated in Dover,” he said. Councilman Vance Phillips said the money has already been budgeted and set aside for land preservation.
“We allocated the money and it’s been set aside and there’s nothing wrong with the selection,” Phillips said. “I’m confused – are we going back on our word?” he asked. Dennis Forney, a land trust board member and publisher of the Cape Gazette, reminded council members that the matching funds might not be available forever.
“The time is right. We need to strike while the iron is hot,” he said. “We have the opportunity to preserve a lot of land in Sussex County and really leverage the use of this money. ”
After one motion failed to get a majority vote, County Administrator David Baker proposed a motion that passed 4-0. The motion backed the land trust recommendation to release the county’s $900,000 contingent on no change in the allocation of the county’s real estate transfer tax funding from the state.
The money would be used to purchase development rights from five property owners to preserve 472 acres throughout the county in the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Program. Wendy Baker said a record 44 landowners filed applications for this round of the program.
The five parcels are working farms in the Bridgeville, Dagsboro, Greenwood and Milton areas. Anne Fitzgerald, Department of Agriculture spokeswoman, said the names of the farmers would not be released until May 14. Once settlement is made, the land is entered into the state’s agricultural lands preservation program and can only be used or sold as farmland.
Wendy Baker said the five selected properties are desirable for a number of reasons, including their proximity to other preserved parcels and the natural views they offer the public. The easement purchases also aid the land trust in its mission to help create a Grand Preservation Loop, she said. The loop is a string of preserved farms, forests and other natural tracts held by a variety of owners from Slaughter Beach to Redden Forest, southwest to Trap Pond, east through Great Cypress Swamp, back to the Inland Bays ending at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Milton. Since 2004, the county has contributed more than $8 million to preserve nearly 3,000 acres.
Land preservation by the numbers
8.6
Square miles of prime land in the U.S. lost to development each day
5, 202
Preserved acres in Sussex that the Sussex County Land Trust has been involved with
$4.1 million
Private dollars pledged and raised by the Susssex County Land Trust for open space
$8.1 million
Dollars Sussex County government has invested in preservation of open space since 2003.
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