Amherst Center: 'Our strength is also our weakness'

Published on August 31, 2007

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. We're hoping this one is worth at least 800 (our monthly column quota).

This map shows the amount of Amherst land that is tax-exempt and/or protected from development. The tax-exempt and protected areas overlap, so you can't just add the percentages, but visually they give a sense of our current context (for more detail, see the color versions online at www.planningamhersttogether.org/maps.htm.

Amherst gets most of its local revenue from property taxes - basically, taxes on land use. As this map shows, 1/3 of our town land is completely off the tax rolls (think colleges and schools); over 1/4 is permanently protected open space.

This is something to be proud of - our green spaces and culture of higher learning are a big strength of life in Amherst. However, our strength is also our weakness, because these tax-exempt and/or protected lands will not yield more tax revenues.

To shrink our town's recurring deficit, we need to make sure our remaining tax-producing lands are as productive as possible, consistent with our town values (knowledge economy, no big-box stores, etc). We need to apply the same vigor and aggressiveness that we have shown in preserving land to now make targeted development decisions that will produce the revenues needed to provide services and protect taxpayers.

Amherst is green and well-educated. Now let's make it fiscally sustainable, too.

Amherst Center is a monthly column written by Baer Tierkel, Clare Bertrand and Andy Churchill.