Criteria for Land Preservation

The Rensselaer Land Trust is a nonprofit land trust organization (a 501c3 organization) formed in 1987 and chartered in March 1988.  Its mission is to protect land and conserve natural resources of Rensselaer County including significant natural features, watersheds and sources of water, open space, natural habitats, and agricultural land.

The RLT uses a number of approaches to protect land. Primary among these tools is accepting donations of land and conservation easements. The RLT may use bargain sales or full purchases to protect land. Sometimes the RLT plays an intermediary role in protecting land for another entity such as a government body. The RLT also seeks to protect land by alerting landowners to unique features of their land, by introducing the public to Rensselaer County's natural treasures, and by educating public officials of the powers and tools available to them for land protection. These land protection tools are explained in further detail in the RLT's publications entitled A Landowner's Guide to Land Preservation Options and Questions and Answers on Conservation Easements. Both of these publications are available upon request.

Information Summary

The New York State Conservation Easement Tax Credit (CETC) offers NY taxpayers whose land is restricted by a conservation easement an annual NY State income tax credit of up to 25% of the school district, county and town real estate taxes paid on the restricted land , up to an annual maximum of $5,000 per taxpayer.  Unlike a tax deduction, which is an adjustment to taxable income, a tax credit offsets a taxpayer's lax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis.  The CETC is a REFUNDABLE income tax credit, which means that if a landowner's tax credit exceeds the amount he or she woes in state income taxes, the landowner gets a check for the difference.

Donating land for conservation is one way a person can provide open space to future generations. The donor may get up to 30% of the donor's adjusted gross income and carried over for five years for the market value of an outright donation or the bargain sale of land to a land trust.

Estate Tax Benefits

Estate taxes can be a heavy burden to family-owned lands, when landowners try to keep these lands intact.  June 1998 national tax law expanded the estate tax benefits of donating a conservation easement. The recently-enacted financial bailout bill includes two tax provisions you should know about:

• An extension of the "IRA Charitable Rollover" provision, allowing donors over 70 ½  to make tax-free charitable contributions from their IRA accounts.
• An extension of the Pension Protection Act provision that removes the limitation on charitable deductions allowed S-corporation shareholders to their stock basis.

Also, the Wall Street Journal reported that longstanding tax law, combined with a souring economy, is encouraging developers to sell losing real estate investments by the end of the year-a potential opportunity for land trusts to acquire land at a steep discount.