Home > Business Insider > Archives > 2008 > August > 17
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Georgia should set aside funds to conserve and protect green spaces
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia is long overdue to create a dedicated funding source to protect its green spaces for the future.
Compared with a host of our neighboring states, which have embarked on aggressive land conservation programs, Georgia’s efforts have been tied to the whims of whoever is governor and the will of the Legislature.
We deserve better.
Our state has too much natural beauty with a great variety of vegetation and wildlife for us to cut down all the trees and build strip shopping centers or sprawling subdivisions all over Georgia.
Recently, I had a couple of minutes with Gov. Sonny Perdue at the end of his speech at the Commerce Club. I wondered whether he still supported the idea of dedicated funding for land conservation.
Back in 2003, shortly after he was elected governor, Perdue assured me of his desire for the state to have a dedicated funding source for green space. Because of economic pressures, he’d just had to cut the general budget line for conservation from $30 million to $15 million.
Since then, all conservation dollars have come from the general budget. In good years, that has topped $30 million. In bad years, it’s gone as low as $10 million.
Perdue now has 28 months remaining as our governor. If he’s going to make land conservation a legacy of his administration, Perdue has this next legislative session to propose a plan. That would give the state an opportunity to present a referendum to voters if necessary.
So I asked Perdue whether he would support dedicated funding for conservation.
“It’s been an aspiration of mine,” Perdue said. “We’ve tried to do that once. Now we’ve been funding it out of the general budget, and we’ve done a great job.”
And then he added: “Whether or not at this stage in the economy we can do that, I don’t know if we can. But I would love to see it for prosperity purposes so we can continue to conserve Georgia’s land.”
Perdue has a long track record of supporting conservation. Back in 1998, he was one of the original co-sponsors of the bill to create a Heritage Fund for conservation, recreation and preservation.
That bill proposed to increase the state’s real estate transfer tax (equal to about $30 million a year) to go toward buying green space and preserving wildlife and historic sites.
Unfortunately, that bill failed (54 percent to 46 percent) thanks to a shrill “tax increase” cry from the real estate industry.
The state has come a long way in the past 10 years. Public support for land conservation has been proven over and over again when counties have put the question to voters.
By not having a significant funding source for conservation, Georgia also has lost a host of opportunities in the past decade to preserve its disappearing natural landscape. The timber companies sold hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land that could have ended up in public hands rather than at the mercy of developers.
And then there are the wildlife management areas that are used by the public but owned privately. At any point, those areas could be sold and developed rather than being conserved.
As a result, Georgia is far behind its sister states in land preservation. Only 1.2 percent of Georgia’s total area is owned by the state, compared with 14.6 percent in Florida. The only Southeastern state that has a lower percentage of protected land than Georgia is Alabama with 0.8 percent.
Speaking of Florida, it dedicates about $300 million a year to conservation, 10 times what Georgia does in a good year.
So we need a dedicated funding source. The most logical move would be to dedicate the state’s property tax collections to a conservation program.
Earlier this year, when property tax reform was all the rage, Perdue proposed eliminating the state’s property tax Ñ which generates about $94 million a year and goes into the general fund Ñ and returning it to taxpayers. That would translate to only about $30 a year for the average Georgian.
That proposal did not advance, which means the state is still collecting .25 of a mill on local property tax bills to go to the general fund.
If the governor felt the state could do without the property tax, why not turn it into a dedicated conservation fund that would improve the quality of life for Georgians for generations to come?
Environmentalist Chuck Leavell, the keyboard player for the Rolling Stones who lives near Macon, believes Georgia should follow Florida’s example. Leavell was appointed by Perdue to serve on the Georgia Land Conservation Council, and he understands the need to dedicate funds for green space.
“I would support the concept of taking the state property tax and use it for conservation,” Leavell said. “That would compare favorably to what some of the leading states in the country are doing. There’s no better resource in our state than our natural lands.”
And since the state already is collecting the money, it would not require new taxes or fees.
“It doesn’t hurt you if it’s something you are already used to paying,” said Leavell, who also is director of environmental affairs for the emerging Mother Nature Network online information service.
If state leaders are not willing to take that bold step, there are other options.
Ross King, deputy director of the Association for County Commissioners of Georgia, said his group is working with local governments to develop conservation programs.
“I want counties to be active in the land conservation debate,” said King, pointing to successful programs in Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Paulding counties, among others across the state.
Two constitutional amendments on November’s ballot Ñ the Georgia Forestland Protection Act and the Infrastructure Development Districts Ñ would help the state and local governments protect land.
Imagine how much more impact the state could have if it had a significant pot of money to go toward land conservation. It could provide incentives to local governments to help in their conservation efforts.
Whatever approach we take, let’s find the dollars to save what nature has given us. It’s long past time to act.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Column
