Genesee County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan

Genesee County: Town of Byron Cost of Community Services Study
1.0 Executive Summary
Genesee County is one of New York State’s most significant agricultural communities.
The County’s unique “mucklands” foster vegetable production while dairy farming
remains a significant operation. After a slight decline in the early 1990’s, real farm sales
in Genesee County increased by $26 million between 1992 and 1997. Over this time
period, real crop sales increased $16 million while receipts from livestock related
products increased $10 million.
The statistics bear that while the value of agricultural goods produced in Genesee County
is increasing, the total number of farms and people who farm in the County is decreasing.
In other words, farms are becoming larger, more productive, and controlled by fewer
people. There is a generation of former farming families who have decided that they
will not pursue a future in the agriculture industry. Their land has come under residential
and commercial development pressure as urban sprawl increases in neighboring Erie and
Monroe Counties. Many landowners have made the decision to subdivide their
agricultural land and sell parcels for residential development.
Agricultural land is a non-renewable resource; once agricultural land is converted to
residential or commercial use, it cannot be returned to agricultural productivity. The
purpose of completing a Cost of Community Services Study (COCS) is to try to
substantiate an important claim that could help protect agricultural land from future
development. The COCS study attempts to prove that preserving agricultural land and
open space within a community can have a positive impact on the local tax base.
A COCS Study was completed for the Town of Byron, New York as part of a Countywide
Farmland Protection Plan prepared for Genesee County. According to the results
of the study completed for Byron, the average ratio of dollars generated by residential
development to services required was $1.00 to $1.30. In other words, for every dollar
raised from residential revenues, the Town spent an extra 30 cents on average in direct
services. These services include education, health and human services, fire safety, and
public works. The average ratio for agricultural land, forest and other open space was
$1.00 to $.49 cents; for every dollar raised in revenue the Town retained $.51 cents.
Average Land Use Ratios for the Town of Byron, New York
Residential Commercial/Industrial Agricultural/Forest/Open Space
$1.00: $1.30 $1:00: $0.77 $1.00: $0.49
Agricultural & Community Development Services, Inc. 2
peter j. smith & company, inc.