On behalf of the Cambria County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, I am writing to strongly oppose the Cambria County Commissioner’s proposed tax increase of 6.75 mills, from the current 30 mills to 36.75. (5.5 mills to go to the general fund and 1.25 mills to debt service.

The Cambria County Farm Bureau has over 480 member families, and they cannot afford a tax increase of this size.

I have already expressed our displeasure with the Commissioner’s decision to them. All three are Farm Bureau members, and friends of mine. I appreciate their memberships and friendship.

Farmers are usually large landowners, and we pay a disproportionate share of the property taxes for the county and school districts compared to other property taxpayers.

The news media has reported that the proposed tax increase will average $71.85 per household or parcel and that the median Cambria County property tax bill is $1,315.

I am sure that will definitely be a difficult burden for many people, particularly senior citizens, on fixed incomes.

I am also sure that the average farmer in Cambria County pays double or triple that tax bill annually.

Our family farm pays five times that amount.

For farmers like us that also rent farmland from others, our landlords will probably raise our rent to pay for their increased property taxes.

Remember that property taxes are a fixed cost and must be paid regardless of a farm’s profitability, or lack thereof.

The inflation rate generally is much less now than a few years ago, but farmers all over the nation have low commodity prices and high production costs with no end in sight, which causes a cost-price squeeze.

The vast majority of farmers are price takers, not price makers. We cannot set the price for what we sell. We get what the market will bear.

The widespread drought that lowered all crop yields this year was a double gut punch to farm profitability.

We applaud the commissioners saving about $2 million by not fully funding about 25 vacant positions in 2026, but they need to make their pencils sharper and cut more spending.

Marty Yahner is president of the Cambria County Farm Bureau.