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Commissioners move to certify $107,099 for 2025 agricultural land preservation program; staff reports 67 preserved farms
Summary
County planning staff asked the board to certify $107,099 in appropriations for the 2025 Agricultural Land Preservation Program and noted the county currently has 67 preserved farms totaling 9,351 acres; commissioners voted to add the funding certification to next week's consent agenda.
Planning and Community Development staff asked the Centre County Board of Commissioners to certify $107,099 in appropriations for the 2025 program year of the Agricultural Land Preservation Program and said the county currently holds conservation agreements on 67 farms totaling 9,351 acres.
At the meeting Elizabeth (Planning and Community Development staff) said the $107,099 figure includes county and rollback-tax funds and that additional contributions have been committed by Ferguson Township and Potter Township. Commissioners and staff discussed the county budget allocation for the program; one commissioner asked whether $80,000 had been budgeted for 2025 and a staff member answered "Yes."
"We currently have 67 farms totaling 9,351 Acres," Elizabeth said when asked about the program's current inventory.
Commissioner Concepcion moved to add the funding certification for the 2025 program year of the Agricultural Land Preservation Program to next week's consent agenda; Commissioner Dershow seconded and the motion carried.
Commissioners and staff praised the program as a tool to protect strategically important farmland and maintain local food production capacity. A commissioner observed that demand for easements typically exceeds available funding and said more money would allow preservation of additional farms.
Because the transcript contained multiple, inconsistent numeric phrasings during the staff presentation (for example a garbled phrase that sounded like "107,080,000"), the article reports the total amount as the staff-stated figure of $107,099 and records the budget clarification (a staff confirmation that $80,000 is in the county budget) in clarifying details rather than reconciling the inconsistent numbers without a documentary source.
The board took the motion to add the certification to next week's consent agenda during the Planning & Community Development portion of the meeting.
