摘要:The paper presents an analytical tool that could help in understanding the consequences of individual decisions associated with land use change by identifying their potential impacts to a community, county or region. The tool outlines the potential costs and benefits of land conversion activities to decision makers in Madison County, Alabama. The results show that the loss of agricultural lands erodes the county's ability to maintain revenue/cost equilibrium across the selected land use types, thus reducing the county's ability to provide current levels of service to residents.