Between 1992 and 1997, 31,199 acres of Shelby County farmland went out of production – and much of it was then turned over into development, primarily residential. That’s not a bad thing, right? Well, actually it could be.

While some continue to believe that development is a plus for county revenues in terms of increased income through more property-taxpayers, more and more studies show that this is not the case. A 2005 Cost of Community Services Study commissioned by MORE from the American Farmland Trust revealed that in Shelby County, as in an increasing number of rural areas across America, development costs communities more in terms of infrastructure and other expenses than it adds to community coffers in property taxes.

Bottom line? In 2004, for every $1 Shelby County realized in income from residential land, it spent $1.21 on services that residential areas require – schools, roads, emergency and police services, sewer and water service expansion, etc. Meanwhile, for every $1 realized in income from industrial and commercial property, Shelby County only spent 0.24; and for every $1 it received from farmland, Shelby County only spent 0.41.

We think this kind of imbalance is cause for concern, especially as Shelby County moves forward. Because while someone’s making money from Shelby County land, it isn’t our community.