Milford farmers get tax break

Local farmers will receive a tax break next year on the land they cultivate.

The exemption will apply only to the land and buildings needed for farming, but not to a residence, according to an ordinance passed unanimously by the Board of Aldermen Monday night.

"I think this is a good deal," Alderman James Patterson, D-1, said today. "We want to protect our farms."

The exemption will cost the city between $30,000 and $60,000 each year, Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said. There are eight or nine farms here that meet the eligibility requirements in the state law that allows local communities to grant the tax break.

"These are not big farms and they get asked all the time by developers, 'Do you want to sell?' Farming isn't something you do for the money," beekeeper Ralph Harrison told the board's Ordinance Committee.

Debra Bourt, who runs a small dairy farm here, said it is difficult to keep a farm running. "I'd favor any help that we can get," she said.

The city's Open Space Steering Committee and the Environmental Concerns Coalition both support the measure, the groups' leaders told the aldermen.

"This is important for our farms," ECC Chairwoman Ann Berman said. "But it would also be helpful if we buy what is grown locally."