Subject Matter Hearing Misrepresentations Exposed – Part VIII

This is Part VIII of the exposure of misrepresentations and misinformation provided by Shelby County State’s Attorney Nichole Kronke during her oral testimony in support of legislation affecting every county in the state.  We urge everyone to read Part I at this link, Part II at this link, Part III at this link, Part IV at this link, Part V at this link, Part VI at this link, Part VII at this link.

Kroncke alleges the County lost $60,000.00-$80,000.00 by letting the ground sit idle during her push to change the law so that the county can lease the farm ground to a private farmer.

• “..it is estimated that last year alone Shelby County lost between $60-$80,000.00 of lost revenue..”

Numbers matter, much like words.

The last time the Shelby County farm was leased, 2019/2020, the county received $39,260.00 of income from it.

For that same time frame, the county incurred expenses of $1,091.93 for fertilizer/lime, $95.38 for a tile riser, and $5,320.34 for property taxes for a total expense of $6,507.65

Deducting expenses from income we see that the farm brought $32,752.35 in revenue for the county.

While the county did incur an expense of $3,615.00 for maintenance of the farm this year that would not have been an expense if it was farmed, it’s clear the numbers do not point to a loss of estimated revenue of $60,000-$80,000.00 for the county.  Even if the leaseholder were to pay the taxes there does not appear to be any math supporting the loss being alleged.

The last farm lease reflects 196.3 acres of ground being farmed.  In order to hit $60,000.00 in revenue from leasing, not counting any expenses to the county, the ground would have to be leased for no less than $305.65 per acre, $407.53 per acre to hit the $80,000.00 estimate.

The last lease was for $200 an acre and the current USDA average for Shelby County is $214.00 as found in the most recent government publication.

We asked the State’s Attorney to provide the information supporting the alleged loss she pointed to but have not received a response.  In the event she does respond we will update accordingly.

The revenue and expense spreadsheet can be downloaded at this link or viewed below.