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BarBara Maćkiewicz, cecylia karalus-wiatr QUAESTIONES GEOGRAPHICAE 36(2) • 2017 AGRICULTURAL LAND ON BUILT-UP HOUSING LOTS AND THE INCOMES OF COMMUNES: AN EXAMPLE OF ROKIETNICA COMMUNE IN THE POZNAŃ AGGLOMERATION BarBara Maćkiewicz1, cecylia karalus-wiatr2 1Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland 2Poviat Centre of Geodetic and Cartographic Documentation in Poznań, Poland Manuscript received: January 16, 2017 Revised version: May 8, 2017 Maćkiewicz B., karalus-wiatr c., 2017. Agricultural land on built-up housing lots and the incomes of communes: An example of Rokietnica commune in the Poznań agglomeration. Quaestiones Geographicae 36(2), Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań, pp. 95–106, 4 tables, 6 figs. aBstract: The strong connection between urbanisation processes and the transformation of farmland into built-up areas – mostly residential – has already been tackled in the literature. Still, in Poland this process of farmland loss, gen- erally thought to be irreversible, occurs in a specific, often irrational and not fully registered way. What is more, this development is favoured by legislation, especially rules controlling the exclusion of land from agricultural production and real-estate taxation. Among the many detrimental consequences of those regulations are incomes of communes lower than they should be. The problem tackled in the article is that of the exclusion from agricultural use of only fragments of geodetic lots on which building investments are going on. The cost of the exclusion and the difference in the rates of the agricultural tax and the real-estate tax very often result in the exclusion of only a part of a lot, while the rest of it is formally still in agricultural use, even though its owner does not conduct any agricultural activity there. In this case two taxes have to be paid from one lot: the real-estate tax, on the land taken out of agricultural use and the building erected on it, and another, the agricultural tax, on land that is still a piece of farmland. This situation, especial- ly in areas undergoing rapid urban sprawl, is common in Poland and has unfavourable consequences for the incomes of communes. It also leads to a discrepancy between data from the real-estate cadastre and the actual area of land in agricultural use, which greatly hampers an exact measurement and control of the real losses of land performing the agricultural function, including that with high-quality soils. The conducted research demonstrated that in 2014 nearly 7% (927) of all geodetic lots in Rokietnica commune, situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Poznań, were built- up housing lots, mostly carrying detached single-family houses, with fragments of farmland. Almost a half (49.4%) of the total area of those lots, 42 ha, was still agricultural land in the real-estate cadastre and subject to taxation not by the real-estate tax, but the much lower agricultural tax. Because of this difference in the two taxes, the annual receipts of the commune budget are 186,601 zlotys (43,395 euro) lower. It also turned out that more than 50% of farmland on those lots (21.8 ha) was arable land of the good land-capability class III, which is high for the conditions in the Poznań agglomeration. This not only corroborates the findings of earlier studies highlighting significant losses of good-quality arable land taking place as a result of urban sprawl, but it also means that in the Polish conditions actual losses are much higher than would follow from records in the real-estate cadastre. It can also be stated that the Polish legal rules not only fail to adequately protect farmland situated within metropolitan areas, but even favour its excessive loss. key words: exclusion of land from agricultural production, farmland conversion, incomes of communes, real-estate tax, agricultural tax, urban sprawl, decrease of agricultural land © 2017 Author(s) This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license doi: 10.1515/ quageo–2017–0018 ISSN 0137–477X 96 BARBARA MAćkIEWICz, CECylIA kARAlUS-WIATR Introduction with investment purposes in mind, the predom- inant purpose being its transformation into a The strong connection between the processes housing area (cf. kacprzak, Maćkiewicz 2011, of urban sprawl and the transformation of farm- 2013; Maćkiewicz, kacprzak 2015; kacprzak, land into built-up, mostly residential, areas has kołodziejczak 2016). The most dynamic changes already been tackled in the literature (cf. levia, of farmland into building land occur as a result of Page 2000; Heimrich, Anderson 2001; Polimeni urban sprawl in rural areas lying in close vicinity 2005; Satterthwaite et al. 2010; Pribadi, Pauleit of large urban centres. For years there has been an 2015; Skog, Steinnes 2016). It has also been found expansion of dispersed settlement into rural are- that, for historical reasons, the sprawl often affects as there (cf. Bański 2005; kacprzak, Staszewska the most fertile soils because best-quality farm- 2009, 2011; kajdanek 2012; lisowski 2007; land lies close to urban areas (Scalanghe, Marsan Maćkiewicz 2007, 2011; Wójcik 2008; Śleszyński 2009; Satterthwaite et al. 2010; Salvati 2013), and 2014, 2015; Maćkiewicz 2016). But because of the urban sprawl is thought to be the main driv- cost of the exclusion of land from agricultural er of its conversion. Undoubtedly, agricultural production and the difference in the rates of the land is negatively affected by population growth agricultural tax and the real-estate tax, very often and urbanisation processes, and urban sprawl only a part of a lot is taken for investment pur- has serious consequences for the conversion of poses while the rest of it is formally still in agri- farmland (Thórth 2012; Martellozzo et al. 2014; cultural use, even though its owner does not con- Skog, Steinnes 2016). It is also believed that con- duct any agricultural activity there (Maćkiewicz, tinuous urbanisation leading to a further trans- Motek 2014). This article is the first in Poland formation of farmland into built-up areas may to tackle, at the scale of an entire commune, the soon affect food security at a global scale (FAO problem of the exclusion from agricultural pro- and ITPS 2015; Gardi et al. 2015). Therefore many duction of only fragments of geodetic lots where authors, e.g. Skog and Steinnes (2016), stress that building investments have been made. This has urgently needed are further and more detailed significant consequences for commune budgets. studies of the effect of urban sprawl on the fast It also makes it very difficult to establish the ac- advancing loss of farmland. They also emphasise tual area in agricultural use, and hence to assess that in this situation it would be highly justified, actual losses in the area of farmland. The goal of even necessary, to attach proper weight to the this paper is to examine the effect of the fragmen- scale of this problem, and they recommend in- tary transformation of farmland into housing lots troducing concrete farmland protection policies on the receipts of communes from the real-estate as soon as possible. They observe that “land use tax. planning and policies must demonstrate how we can change the consumption of farmland by containing urban growth” (Skog, Steinnes Receipts of communes: the real-estate 2016: 195). However, in Poland this problem still tax and the agricultural tax seems to be given scarce attention, if not down- played altogether. For many years the process local taxes are among the most important of farmland loss has occurred in a specific, often sources of income of self-government units in irrational and not fully registered way. What is Poland. Apart from their basic role, i.e. providing more, it has been favoured by legislation, espe- budgetary means for public tasks (a fiscal func- cially rules controlling the exclusion of land from tion), they also perform redistributive, stimulat- agricultural production and real-estate taxation. ing and informational-controlling functions (for Among the many detrimental consequences of more details, see e.g. Gaudemet, Molinier 2000; those regulations are also incomes of communes Malinowska-Misiąg, Misiąg 2014; Owsiak 2016). lower than they should be (Maćkiewicz, Motek Of special significance among local taxes are the 2014). Since the very start of the systemic trans- real-estate tax and the agricultural tax, which be- formation in Poland one can observe a steady de- long to the group of so-called land taxes. They cline in the area of farmland. This is chiefly the also belong to property taxes, i.e. those a sig- result of taking it out of agricultural production nificant feature of which is that they arise from AGRICUlTURAl lAND ON BUIlT-UP HOUSING lOTS AND THE INCOMES OF COMMUNES 97 the very fact of possessing a property, whether (Table 1), which accounted for more than 10% of or not it brings any profit. The real-estate tax is their total receipts. The role of the agricultural regulated by the Taxes and local Duties Act of tax in financing local-government tasks is much 12 January 1991 (Official Gazette of 2016, position smaller. In the study period this tax generated a 716, with later changes), and the agricultural tax, mean annual income of about 1.5 billion zlotys, by the Agricultural Tax Act of 15 November 1984 or 1% of all budgetary revenues. (Official Gazette of 2016, position 617, with later From a fiscal point of view and that of the changes). maximisation of commune revenues, a favour- The subjects of the real-estate tax and the agri- able situation is one when most land in a com- cultural tax are natural persons, legal persons and mune comes under the real-estate tax, and not the organisational units with no legal personality that agricultural tax.

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