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Ranch Would Make A Great Gift For 2008

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

It's not too early to start thinking about next Christmas, and some Pasco County government officials and environmentalists are. They're eyeing the 12,500-acre Cross Bar Ranch in the central part of the county, east of U.S. 41 and north of State Road 52, for preservation and continued public ownership.

Cross Bar also would be a heck of a gift to county taxpayers and residents.

The ranch, which includes public drinking water wells owned by Tampa Bay Water, is owned by Pinellas County government, which wants to sell to help pay for needed utility system improvements there. Pasco officials are eager to buy, as they should be.

Protecting certain lands from development should always be a goal. In Cross Bar's case, drinking water supplies would be protected. So, too, would wildlife - some endangered - and plant species and other resources. Educational opportunities for the public also would be preserved as well.

Just as important, the ranch would add to the growing amount of preserved acreage under the county's environmental lands program, funded by the Penny for Pasco sales tax, and establish a firm link to other protected areas.

Cost and funding are the biggest issues, and it will take hard work to overcome them.

It's unknown, at this point, how much the ranch would cost, but the price tag likely will be in the tens of millions, probably more, unless Pinellas officials are willing to be extremely generous.

The Pasco property appraiser's office pegs the value at $176 million. The state's land preservation and conservation program, Florida Forever, which would be the major funding source, expires in 2010. The program has less than $30 million left, with several approved projects on deck.

But funding for Cross Bar can be secured. County officials and supporters just have to be creative and diligent.

The county received some good news a couple of weeks ago. State senators began working to craft a successor to Florida Forever, and the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation chairman announced the current program's annual $300 million appropriation will survive an anticipated $1 billion in new budget cuts in the spring.

Without question, Cross Bar should qualify for Florida Forever money - the land has tremendous environmental value. But it would be a miracle if Florida Forever covered the entire amount because of state funding issues and requests from other communities.

Grants to pay for the rest could be pursued from other sources, though. For example, the federal government has a couple of land preservation and conservation programs available through the Department of Agriculture. They are designed to protect agricultural land and wetlands. Those funds should be pursued as well.

In addition, the county could make money off the land by farming it as Pinellas does to help pay any debt that may be accrued to purchase it. As Tribune staff writer Julia Ferrante reported recently, Pinellas has made about $3.2 million the past five years by harvesting pine needles that are turned into mulch.

If the county can't come up with enough money to purchase the land outright, there are other options.

Striking a deal for development rights or conservation easements with Pinellas also would preserve the land, which Pinellas would hold title to under this scenario, and perhaps a compromise could be reached on property tax payments and other legal issues. Pinellas officials already have shown they're willing to work with Pasco, saying they'd be willing to finance a deal, possibly with a longtime loan, so the land can stay in public ownership.

Some may question whether county and state taxpayers should pay to preserve a ranch that is already in public ownership. In the case of Cross Bar, there's a simple answer: Pinellas could very well sell to a private developer, and this sensitive, picturesque piece of natural Florida, which carries enormous educational and light recreational opportunities, could become yet another subdivision.

That possibility alone is why Pasco officials should continue their enthusiastic pursuit and use all the financial creativity they can muster to strike a deal.

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