Easements
can preserve open land, reduce taxes
By ROBERT GOODRICH
Published: Thursday, Dec. 18 2003
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No regrets
Program can preserve open land, reduce taxes
Conservancy offers program Landowners can preserve open space and lower their
taxes at the same time by setting up conservation easements, says the Land
Conservancy.
The Conservancy is a division of the nonprofit Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation
and Development Council, based in Mascoutah. It covers seven Metro East-area
counties.
It says urban sprawl is gobbling up nearly eight square miles of Metro East-area
land each year for such things as roads, parking lots, subdivisions and
shopping centers. That rate continues to climb.
The Conservancy does not necessarily oppose urban growth.
"Development is needed to provide for economic expansion," said the
group's coordinator, Steve Black. "But unplanned urban development can
lead to a loss of the values that come from open space and farmlands."
With a conservation easement, he said, owners can protect their land from
development while preserving all ownership rights. It is completely voluntary
and can be tailored to the owner's desires.
But Black emphasized that it does not prevent a public body from taking land needed
for a public purpose through eminent domain.
Sally Brown of O'Fallon set up two conservation easements nearly three years ago
to preserve about 180 acres of woods, pasture and farmland that has been in her
family for four generations. "I sleep a heck of a lot better now that
we've had this done," she said.
Brown said she would encourage other owners to set up conservation easements of
their own, tailored to fit their own needs and circumstances.
Some mistakenly believe that they would lose control, or even ownership of their
land, she said. The truth is that they retain ownership and can ensure future
use of the property follows their wishes. Paul J. Evans, a lawyer from O'Fallon
who specializes in setting up conservation easements, said Brown was correct.
"The thing I would emphasize is that there is a lot of versatility in
these," he said. "And there is a lot of room for individuality."
Brown said that in her case, the whole family was behind it. She has suffered "not
one moment of regret," she added, although it was estimated she could have
sold the land for $2.5 million to developers.
Her land forms a sprawling, wide-open area now almost surrounded by subdivisions,
except for a neighboring farmer who cooperates with her in dealing with
trespassers.
A conservation easement does not mean public access.
Despite no-trespassing signs, a few people think nothing of climbing a fence or
opening a gate onto someone else's land, Brown said. She is especially annoyed by
poachers.
Three times this year, she or her husband found a dead or badly wounded deer, she
said.
Black, the Land Conservancy coordinator, emphasized that conservation easements
are completely voluntary. "It's only for those who want the benefits of
this particular program."
Financially, the main benefit is reduced taxes. The Land Conservancy says those
may include:
Income tax: Owners can list the value of the easement as a charitable deduction
if it is donated to a qualified organization.
Estate tax: Restricted use reduces the market value of the land, lowering the amount
on the federal estate tax return.
Property tax: State law allows a reduction of assessed value for a perpetual conservation
easement, but not for land continuing in productive use as already assessed.
A landowner who sets up a conservation easement remains responsible for the land,
including upkeep and payment of taxes. The owner must comply with restrictions
the easement sets up and allow periodic monitoring.
The Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation Resource Conservation and Development
Council has already held meetings this month in Madison and St. Clair counties
to explain conservation easements.
Black said similar meetings were planned in the next three months in each of the
other five counties the council covers - Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph and
Washington.
"We're just trying to get the word out to everybody," he said.
"I've gotten lots of phone calls and interest."
Black said the Land Conservancy got no direct benefit from setting up a conservation
easement. His agency is supported by grant money from various sources. "We
don't pressure anybody," he said. "We're only offering this."
Black said conservation easements had been available in some parts of the country
since the 1960s, and there are aggressive programs along parts of the East
Coast where development encroachment is more serious.
In Kane County outside Chicago, a portion of the tax on riverboat gambling is used
each year to buy conservation easements to preserve farmland and open space.
In this area, the Resource Conservation and Development Council
was established in 1989.
More
information can be obtained by calling Black at 566- 4451 or lawyer Paul J.
Evans at 628-9082.
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Reporter Robert Goodrich
E-mail: rgoodrich@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-235-8919