Politics

County poised to place $25 million farmland preservation bond issue on ballot

By BILL MOSS, Published: July 14, 2026

Henderson County farmers could get access to $25 million in farmland preservation grants to ensure that their land stays in agriculture use instead of becoming subdivisions or another type of development.

The county Board of Commissioners was scheduled this week to consider whether to authorize a bond referendum on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The county faces a tight deadline to complete the steps required under state law. The approved ballot language must reach the county Board of Elections by Aug.7.

“We don’t have a day to spare” to get it done, County Attorney Russ Burrell said Monday.

The bond issue discussion was on the county commission’s agenda for its regular mid-month meeting on Wednesday.

“It would provide funding for incentives for farmers to keep their land in farmland,” said Commissioner Rebecca McCall, who co-chairs the county’s Farmland Preservation Task Force.

Thanks to a state grant and local match, the county has around $822,000 set aside for farmland preservation. A bond issue if approved by the voters would dramatically increase the amount available.

‘All about farmland preservation’

Commissioners are leaning toward making the money available specifically to save farmland, not for general land conservation or acquiring parkland.

“It would be all about farmland preservation and (providing grant) to be able to compensate the farmers to keep their land,” McCall said.

Henderson County lost nearly 10,000 acres of farmland from 2017 to 2022 — 20 percent of the agricultural land.

In an alert he emailed to supporters on Monday, David Weintraub, an environmental activist and filmmaker, urged conservationists to attend the Board of Commissioners meeting on Wednesday to express support for the bond issue.

“Agriculture generates over $1 billion in revenue in the county each year and supports 4,600 jobs,” he said. “However, if agriculture continues to be replaced by development, another 14,000 acres of farmland is likely to disappear by 2040, taking with it substantial revenues and jobs.”

Weintraub pointed out, too, that a state law barring counties from downzoning land — making the land-use regulations more restrictive — has impeded local government’s ability to curtail high-density development.

“However, if the commissioners vote on Wednesday to proceed with a bond referendum that if accepted by the voters in November could make available $25 million for farmland preservation and other land protections, it would go a long way to protect what’s so precious about Henderson County — our rural character,” he said.

The $424,571 grant the county received from the Farmland Preservation Division of the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is intended to encourage the preservation of qualified farmland and “support the growth, development and sustainability of family farms.”

Under one grant program the county is likely to pursue, farmers would agree to place a conservation easement on their land that would block development, subdivisions, industrial use and non-agricultural use while ensuring the landowner’s right to farm, sell or lease, maintain roads and utilities and offer ag-tourism.

What is property tax impact?

While preserving the county’s rural heritage is widely supported by voters, the bond referendum could face opposition from taxpayers who already face a 4-cent property tax increase this year. McCall said Tuesday she did not know yet whether the bond issue would require a property tax increase, or how much one could be. That was expected to be among the topics commissioners would discuss on Wednesday.

Under state law governing a bond referendum, the county must disclose to voters an estimate of how much the property tax rate could go up to cover the debt service. The ballot question must also state what a potential property tax increase would cost per $100,000 of property value.

A legal notice published in this issue of the Lightning notifies the public that the county could seek approval from the state Local Government Commission to issue $25 million in bonds to fund programs for “the protection of natural resources and preservation of farmland and scenic landscapes, including the acquisition of the development rights in the land.”

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The Board of Commissioners meets at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 15, in the second-floor meeting room of the Historic Courthouse. Public comment time generally is scheduled at the beginning of the meeting.