Cost of Community Services (COCS) studies are a case study approach used to determine the fiscal contribution of existing local land uses. A subset of the much larger field of fiscal analysis, COCS studies have emerged as an inexpensive and reliable tool to measure direct fiscal relationships. Their particular niche is to evaluate working and open lands on equal ground with residential, commercial and industrial land uses.

American Farmland Trust developed COCS studies in the mid-1980s to provide communities with a straight-forward and inexpensive way to measure the contribution of agricultural lands to the local tax base. This fact sheet describes the methodology, history, functions and purpose of COCS studies. It also features tables summarizing the results of studies in 263 communities in the United States, including analyses in 91 Indiana counties.