The reason a landowner gets tax breaks for putting his land in trust is that the community benefits from vacant land, Winter explained. Putting land in trust protects wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, water quality and historic sites.
The process isn’t trouble free, Winter said. “Sometimes we have to go in and sue the people who gave us the land. For instance if they build a swimming pool on it, we have to go in and say here’s the agreement, you aren’t allowed to do this, now you have to go in and fix it. But we don’t want that to be the case, so we want to make sure it’s done voluntarily, so we can enforce it in a way that is not acrimonious.”
Winter acknowledged that the easements reduce the tax base, but said they provide open space benefits, and a resident could feel that these are not benefits. “This is to the benefit of habitat for wildlife and not for the benefit of humans,” Morales said. Several other audience members pointed out that putting land into trust is a voluntary decision – nobody is forced to do it. “It’s a landowner’s right,” one said.
John Bassler noted that the conservation easement depends on legislation, and if a majority of the people opposes it, legislators can undo it. Until that happens, “we have the decision of the people of New York State who have said through their legislators, that on balance this is a good thing.”
Barry Benepe said that taking land out of development actually can ease the tax burden because this land doesn’t need services, “especially in education.”
Josh Randall pointed out that the landowner is still paying local taxes as long as he owns the land. “If I have 100 acres with a fantastic vista I don’t want development on that land so I do an easement. That land is costing the town that much less in services because the land is undeveloped. The services are tremendously lower.”
A land trust is a corporation under New York State charities law, and a charitable organization under federal law. Winter estimated that there are some 36 to 37 million acres under easements in the United States, and that is more than the entire National Park system combined. “So people in the United State – millions of them – have decided on their own, voluntarily, to set aside their land for permanent protection.” Some of these properties are donated, and some are purchased, he said.
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