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Jeffrey H. Dorfman, a professor of agricultural and applied economics speaks to the public and Hart Co. Board of Commissioners on Dec. 13 about the subdivision proposal off Benson Street in Hartwell and the county’s growth statistics.
Professor Jeffrey Dorfman from the University of Georgia’s agricultural and applied economics department spoke to the Hart County Board of Commissioners and residents at the Hart County Agriscience Center about managing residential growth in Hart County in hopes of “balancing” local resources.
Dorfman lectured on the growth that Hart County could manage that he defined as “middle ground,” which is something that he argued local governments can either “pull in” or “push away” in Hart County. The primary issue Dorfman focused on was housing, which the board is currently trying to limit with respect to the proposed subdivision between Liberty Hill Road and Fairview Avenue by developers Kenneth Whitworth and Brandt Bentley. The 247-acre development would bring about 600-700 homes if fully built out.
“Everybody thinks that if they take over 100 acres of farmland and turn it into 100 houses, that’s going to be really great for the local government because [the local government] gets to collect these new taxes off of those 100 houses,” Dorfman said. “But it doesn’t help the local government budget unless the new revenue from those houses more than covers all of the new service expenditures that are caused by the people in those houses.”
Dorfman’s research in housing development shows that when more residential growth occurs, then public services will be in higher demand and stressed more often such as roads, libraries, and schools. Dorfman argued that new growth is only good if it “grows revenues faster than expenses.” If new growth expenses, however, outpaces local government revenue then current residents living in Hart County will be forced to pay to upgrade and maintain the public services through higher taxes.
“On average nationally, residential development, and that’s either homeowners or renters, the taxes we pay related to where we live pays 87 cents into the local government for every one dollar we get back in [public] services,” Dorfman said. “So we’re all free loaders.”
On the flip side to residential development are businesses, farmland, and forestland, which Dorfman’s research shows to pay more towards public services for every dollar they get back from those services. Businesses pay over $3 and farms and forestland pay over $2. Dorfman argued that the approach local governments take towards residents and businesses is fine, but when the two are unbalanced and businesses are paying more into public services than residents are, then it will inevitably lead to higher taxes for both residents and businesses. Businesses, farmland, forestland must be balanced to residential growth.
“You’re fine as long as you keep your growth balanced,” Dorfman said.
Dorfman then explained that residential growth need not always be a detriment to local government budgets if residents are able to afford a more expensive home, as it will pay more in its share of property taxes for local governments to use for public services.
“It doesn’t cost any more to give [the house] water, it doesn’t cost anymore to run a road by the house. The resident’s kid costs the same when they go to school, so eventually if your house costs enough you will pay in more for every dollar you give back,” Dorfman said.
He went on to explain that if every resident in Hart County had one child that attended the Hart County Charter School System, then the cost for each home would need to be valued much more than what the average house costs in Hart County.
“[The] break-even home value for a Hart County resident to pay for the education of their child would need to equate to $1.16 million in order to pay the education costs required by the school system in order to maintain it,” he said.
Dorfman’s statistics, on the other hand, found that most Hart County residents do not have children that attend public schools, and that county residents only average “one-third of a public school kid per house.” His research concluded that the need for the county government to approve new homes to cost $1.16 million could be reduced drastically, but still required a “one-third of a kid” home to average $387,000 just to cover the costs for the school system.
“I don’t know what the break-even is for the county government [to cover the costs of services] but I can guarantee you that it’s a lot less than that,” Dorfman said. “So the danger is that the [Hart County Board of Commissioners] can approve houses that meet their budget just fine, but essentially bankrupts the school system or forces the school system to raise their millage rate.”
Dorfman argued that if new housing were to be developed in Hart County that it should be as close to the city of Hartwell as possible, so as not to rack up costs to transport and build infrastructure out in a rural area away from existing infrastructure.
“Build where the infrastructure already is – so build closer to your cities,” Dorfman said. “If you pack housing close together in one location, the cost to maintain the services required by residential growth is manageable and effective, because you’re not dedicating and building infrastructure miles down the road.
“On average, the cost of services goes down half the rate of land use, so if instead you build a house on a one acre lot you build it on a half acre lot, you use 50 percent less land [and] the costs of providing services for each house will be 25 percent cheaper. That’s enough to turn the 87 cent ratio into a dollar. You just broke even on a house instead of losing money.”
Dorfman showed growth in the state of Georgia from the U.S. Census data through the years 2010 to 2020 relating to population growth, job growth, and housing stock. Dorfman found that 92 counties in the state of Georgia experienced a boost in population from 2010 to 2020. According to the census data, Hart County experienced a 2.4 percent increase in residential growth. Hart County also brought in more jobs from 2010 to 2020 to meet the demand of businesses needing workers. However, only 88 counties in Georgia increased their housing stock from 2010 to 2020 to adjust for the population growth. Only 71 counties did not increase their housing stock. Hart County was one of them.
“More housing is probably good,” Dorfman said. “More housing keeps housing prices down, because you can see more [counties] in Georgia grew in population, jobs, and houses.”
Dorfman stressed, though, that the construction of new housing in Hart County should be done for “economic reasons” so as to protect the agricultural industry in Hart County as well as its “rural character.”
“We should care for farm land, forest land, green spaces, and pretty lakes, even if we don’t care about them as natural resources,” Dorfman said. “One out of every six jobs in the state of Georgia is connected to agriculture and forestry. The production, the processing, the retailing, the restaurants; you add textiles to it and it’s a lot of jobs. Open space and green spaces attract businesses and families. People like living near them, even businesses like being near them.”
Agriculture is Hart County’s leading industry and according to the 2020 Georgia Farm Gate Value Report, Hart County contributed over $248 million to Georgia’s economy and is ranked 6th in the state for total farm gate value.