Green Acres is the place for me ♪♫

I know this is an election but some issues should not be politicized for the sake of being elected.
Go ahead and vilify me as the enemy of true Republicans but my desire for good public policy transcends my party loyalty.
First this is a tempest in a teapot. I can think of a great many more compelling reasons to not vote for Ellen Karcher. A farmland assesment does not top my list. Can we really blame any of the people who take advantage of the Farmland Assessment. I know if I lived on 6 acres I would take advantage of it to the fullest legal extent possible. Who is to say that it is not accomplishing its purpose with regard to smaller lots. Many people would subdivide their 7 0r 10 acre (or more) lots were it not for the farmland assessment. I know many people in Colts Neck who rent out part of their property to a local farmer who then grows crops. They get a farmland assessment and the farmer gets to grow crops. Is that a bad deal?

That does not mean the Farmland Assessment Act could not use some improvement. For instance if you live on a 10 acre plot that is in a ten acre zone it should be much more difficult to get the farmland assessment because that land will not be developed in any event. On the other hand a legitimate farmer may have a 10 acre farm and you would still want them to get a break.

The bottom line is that the impacts of any changes in the law need to be carefully evaluated and should not be driven by a few bad examples or by campaign rhetoric.