Transcripts

MARY LOSURE: On the outskirts of Cottage Grove, a suburb just a few minutes away from Saint Paul, Roger Bothe's farmstead stands on a little hill surrounded by cornfields. But just across the road from where both these fields end is a solid line of houses, each with its attached two-car garage, its backyard sundeck with barbecue. Bothe, whose family has worked this land for 112 years, remembers the farms that were there before the houses. He says the owners didn't want to sell. They were forced to because they couldn't pay assessments levied against their land to pay for storm sewers.

ROGER BOTHE: There were two farms there of 80 acres, two farmers there. And they came in. And they assessed it for storm sewer. And there wasn't much choice but to sell and just discontinue farming. So that's how it got developed.

MARY LOSURE: That was more than 15 years ago. Now, the same thing could happen to both these farm. Another storm sewer is planned to serve another development. The storm sewer would run right along the west edge of both these cornfields.

ROGER BOTHE: Now, as we stand here, you're at the top of what's known as the west draw. See, it's a farm. To the west of us here, slopes to the west, that's part of the draw. And that will go down through that wooded area and head towards the south. And it'll end up down on 80th Street, where the development of West Cottage Grove is. And that'll all be interconnected someday if they get their development, like they want to do it.

MARY LOSURE: The storm sewer assessment would cost both around $40,000. To pay it, he says he would probably have to sell his farm. He watches as, in the distance, a dump truck headed for a construction site drives along the road between the development and his cornfield.

ROGER BOTHE: Amazing thing about this development is that the people that do live across the road that we've got to know, they tell us, oh, they love to having an open space next to them. And they say if we ever sell out to development, they're going to sell out and leave, too. They got here, and they think development should stop. But they were entitled to come out. So it's a funny situation.

MARY LOSURE: Several years ago, Bothe enrolled his land in the Metro Ag Preserves Program, under which farmers who agree not to sell their land for development are protected from assessments. The problem, though, is that the program only protects farmers from certain types of assessments, and storm sewers aren't on the list. Another law allows farmers to defer assessments, but they must be paid plus interest when the land is sold. Lee Ronning works on farmland preservation for the sustainable farming group, the Land Stewardship Project.

LEE RONNING: The argument that's in place is that the farmers should pay for these assessments, these improvements, because they will receive the future benefit from them. But it's exactly that kind of thinking that sets in motion the self-fulfilling prophecy that then makes the farmer sell to pay the assessments. The assessments are not a benefit to the farmer when the land is in agriculture. It's only a benefit to them if they develop their land.

MARY LOSURE: Representative Myron Orfield of Minneapolis is sponsoring a bill that would provide farmers enrolled in preservation programs broader protection from assessments. He says while it would be a help to farmers, it's also part of a much larger initiative to prevent urban sprawl and encourage development closer to the city's core, not out in the country.

MYRON ORFIELD: Right now, there's powerful tax and infrastructure incentives to build new cities rather than to redevelop old ones. It's one step among many, trying to provide a level-playing field so that the tax structure is a little bit more even.

MARY LOSURE: Orfield says so far, there has been little organized opposition to the protection from assessments included in his legislation. A representative of the Builders Association of Minnesota says it's taken no position on the issue. Joel Jamnik, legislative counsel for the League of Minnesota Cities, says his group supports the general idea but does have some concerns.

JOEL JAMNIK: Given the state's interest in preserving the quality of our lakes and streams and rivers, I think it's undeniable that even land that is in an agricultural preserve receives some benefit from some of our storm sewer programs that prevent or minimize non-point source pollution, such as agricultural chemical runoff from farmland.

MARY LOSURE: Jamnik says there needs to be a balance worked out so that farmers help pay for improvements that do benefit them. Otherwise, he says those costs will just be shifted to other taxpayers. I'm Mary Losure, Minnesota Public Radio.