It’s encouraging that state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-Oil City, hasn’t forgotten about the expansion of state Game Commission lands that had many in Warren County pretty upset last year.

The local state senator is drafting legislation that would require state agencies attempting to buy land to seek local government approval before the purchase takes place. It’s an attempt to enshrine into state law an idea Hutchinson suggested when Spring Creek Township officials asked for a meeting with state Game Commission officials before the commission took control of 2,195 acres of property in a transfer that created new state game lands in western Warren County. Game Commission officials said they saw no need for a meeting.

Now, Hutchinson wants to go a step further. Rather than requiring a meeting, Hutchinson wants the Game Commission to obtain local government approval as a formal step in the process to acquire more land. Hutchinson’s proposal is, in our view, a common sense step that we hope gains traction in the state legislature.

“Local communities lose their land through this process, and as a result, this land loses its practical utility, serving only state purposes and revenue generation,” Hutchinson wrote. “Endless state government ownership of land inhibits direct community, economic investment, such as housing development and private energy production.”

The PGC controls over 1.5 million acres of game lands and made $1.8 million in payments in lieu of taxes to localities to replace tax revenue. There are usually reasons why the state Game Commission wants to expand the territory under its control. But the expansion of Game Commission territory comes at a cost of local taxable assessment and tax revenue – which increases your tax bill. Hutchinson’s bill would bring a little more balance to a process that right now doesn’t benefit the majority of local residents. At the very least, perhaps requiring local approval of a state Game Commission land purchase could lead to a negotiation over PILOT payments that could better protect the local tax base and, by extension, local taxpayers.