UPCOMING: - Tuesday, May 10th - BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' ZONING WORK SESSION - 10am Courthouse followed by 2:00/7:30 regular monthly meeting - Wednesday, May 18th - BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' ZONING WORK SESSION 5:30pm Courthouse followed by 7:30pm Public Hearing on FY05-06 Budget ------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - 2 people needed on Saturday, May 14th 7:00pm-10:00pm for the Central VA Rodeo at Oak Ridge. We will receive a donation for our work serving beer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- RURAL NELSON MINUTES MAY 4TH, 2005 RURAL NELSON OFFICE NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1ST, 2005 Sherry Buttrick led a discussion about the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the role it serves in holding conservation easements. VOF is a state government agency, with its trustees appointed by the Governor. The foundation exists to promote the preservation of open space in the Commonwealth. They follow guidelines as to what the property can consist of, and guidelines as to the language of the easement. Seven trustees are appointed for four-year terms, and they can serve two terms. Trustees are not removed when the Governorship changes. There is a "soft" minimum of fifty acres in regards to the least amount of land that they will consider for an easement. If Nelson County were to consider a cluster or conservation subdivision, Sherry was asked if the VOF would consider putting the 75% of shared or open space land in the development into a conservation easement. She said that when Albemarle was faced with this question, the county set up an authority, the Public Recreational Facilities Authority, to hold such an easement and Nelson County could do the same. Such an authority could also hold easements to parks for the county. Nelson would also benefit from a PDR (Purchase of Development Rights) program such as the ACE program in Albemarle County. PDR programs can actually bring fiscal advantages to the county and there is grant funding available for such programs. Basic fiscal impact studies can have a strong positive effect in helping the Board of Supervisors to see the advantages of PDRs. The Virginia State Tax Credit on conservation easements is enormously attractive and it is attracting some new approaches from those interested in benefiting from it, developers included. Some individuals have tried too hard to maximize the value of their land before putting it in easement. The problem involved in this comes when a person making a charitable gift (an easement) cannot prove to the IRS that there has been no gain to them. If you are a person living on a hundred acres that you love and you want to preserve, you need first to get your family to agree to the conditions under which they would apply for an easement - i.e. the right to built one or two more houses etc. You can then apply on line or by mail. Sherry will come look at the land and point out any issues that need to be noted in that particular easement. The fact that you have an easement on the land should not affect your real estate taxes. In counties that have a Land Use Program, the question of land use valuations done by assessors (especially for the open space category) should be in line with the terms of the easement. If they aren't, then you need to keep appealing the assessment. After Sherry has looked at the property and discussed it with the family, VOF develops an easement that is particularized to the farm and the family. The family must do a title search, and if the property is mortgaged the mortgage must be subordinated. The easement is then proposed to the Board of the VOF. If it is approved, the owner has two years in which to record the easement. The easement value is a percentage of the base value of the land. This is generally within 20% to 38% of the value of the land. The appraisal of the easement is necessary to get the tax benefits. VOF is not part of this. There is a federal tax credit and a state income tax credit which is now transferable - that is it can be sold or traded as a commodity. This can turn out to be very valuable. For some people, being able to liquefy some portion of the value of their land without having to sell it is tremendously valuable, for instance if their barn needs a new roof. The state tax credits have become a political football. Some people putting land into easements are finding assessors that will give them assessments that exceed by a large margin the normal 20% to 38% easement value. These easements will probably be challenged in the future. Respectfully submitted, Mary Buford Hitz, Secretary ------------------------------------------------------------------------- OF INTEREST: - Saturday, May 14th 10am-5pm - Nelson County Historic Home Tour to benefit Oakland-The Nelson County Museum of History. Tour will feature five home and the Rockfish Presbyterian Church. Limited number of lunches available by reservation (361.1221). Call 325.8169 or 263.7015 for information or tickets for the tour. - Wednesday, May 18th 7:30-9:00pm at the Appomattox County High School Auditorium - "The Dollars and Sense of Protecting Community Character" - Speaker Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute. Mr. McMahon will speak about evaluating the true cost of development, creatively influencing the development process and maintaining quality of life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This report, sent to over 600 Nelson County citizens, was made possible by the generous donations of Rural Nelson members and supporters. We need your help to continue this service. Please consider donating. Kim T. Cash Field Officer Rural Nelson, Inc. P. O. Box 401 (622 Front Street) Lovingston, VA 22949 434.263.5000 Email: info@ruralnelson.org www.ruralnelson.org