Question: What is the value of Rauscher Farm?

The purchase of the Rauscher Farm property is of enormous value to the people of Clinton. Although the value doesn’t immediately show up on the short-term spreadsheets, it’s real value nonetheless, and includes a monetary value that outstrips the tax revenue the proposed new development would bring the town.

When assessing a purchase—be it big or small—value should be looked at in terms of purchase cost and costs over time, including the costs of not making the purchase. By looking at a purchase from several cost angles, you come up with the “true” value of the purchase.

Let’s look at the “true” value to the Town of Clinton of purchasing Rauscher Farm. This “true” value is measured in two ways. How would purchasing the farm:

• Preserve the quality of life in Clinton, a small town that has experienced an explosive growth of residential development in recent years;
• Dollars and Sense-- the large proposed development of Rauscher Farm would cost the town more than the cost of purchasing the land as open space.