With bi-partisan support, Congress passed (Senate: 65-33; House: 318-109) and the President signed into law legislation that makes permanent a federal tax incentive supporting land conservation on Friday, December 18.
Farmers, ranchers and the landowners across the nation can now benefit from the incentive that encourages landowners to place a conservation easement on their land to protect important natural, scenic and historic resources.
Thank you to all who reached out to our local representatives on behalf of the incentive -- and please join us in thanking our elected officials for their support of this legislation and conservation:
Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand
Representatives Lee Zeldin, Peter King, and Kathleen Rice.
On the East End, this incentive is especially important for farmers, as it affords them the opportunity to consider bargain sales as part of a farmland conservation strategy. By making the incentive permanent, our ability to work with the farming community on conservation has been strengthened.
First enacted as a temporary provision in 2006, the incentive is directly responsible for conserving more than 2 million acres of America's natural outdoor heritage. The incentive grants certain tax benefits to landowners who sign a conservation easement. Such private, voluntary agreements with local land trusts permanently limit the uses of land in order to protect its conservation values. Land placed into conservation easements can continue to be farmed or used for specified purposes. The lands also remain on county tax rolls, strengthening local economies. The incentive will be applied retroactively to January 1, 2015. An earlier version of the incentive expired December 31, 2014.
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20-Year Community Preservation Fund Extension
Signed by Governor Cuomo: Public Referendum is
Needed to Approve Extension to the Year 2050
The Community Preservation Fund (CPF), a 2 percent real estate transfer tax that provides funding to each of the five East End Towns (East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton, and Southold) to protect farmland, open space, and historic
structures, was first approved by voters in 1999 and has been key to the preservation of nearly 10,000 acres that define community character.
The CPF has raised over $1 billion to date and is currently subject to a sunset date of 2030. The change in law would not only extend the 2 percent transfer tax by 20 years to 2050, but would also include a new provision that would allow each of the Towns to allocate up to 20 percent of CPF receipts to water quality protection projects. Each town would
be responsible to develop and approve a water quality protection plan, specific to their Town's needs and requirements. If the CPF Extension legislation recently signed by Governor Cuomo is approved by voters in the fall of 2016, the water quality provision would go into effect in 2017.
"Our thanks to Governor Cuomo and our State representatives, Senator Ken LaValle and Assemblyman Fred Thiele, for their foresight and commitment to extend the Community Preservation Fund. The 20-year extension will enable our communities to increase the pace of conservation and broaden the use of these funds to address our water quality challenges while we continue working together to protect the farms, natural lands, shorelines, and historic resources that make Eastern Long Island a cherished place to live and visit," said John v.H. Halsey, President, Peconic Land Trust.
Thank you for all you do in support of conservation in our communities.
