1. PROPERTY VALUE ABATEMENT FOR LAND TRUSTS in MASSACHUSETTS presented by     Mark H. Robinson Executive Director The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Inc.  

3. Just as an aside…
For those of you who work with developers that need mitigation open space for their permits:
General Electric just bought 6,800 square feet on the Fort Point Channel from Gillette for $1.5 million!
That’s $9.6 million per acre

4. Why is this important now?
OUTLINE
Why is this important now?
Why is this important?
SJC said Land Trusts should be exempt from property tax, BUT that ruling would not prevent PILOT payments.
Why is it important now?
PILOT bill has been filed

6. Land trusts are maturing, have acquired large portfolios
Why is this important?
Lands owned in fee simple (outright) by land trusts, not conservation restrictions or other interests
Land trusts have been able to take on new parcels without regard to property tax consequences
Land trusts are maturing, have acquired large portfolios
In some towns, the land trust is the single largest private landowner
Any property tax payments could pose existential threat
Why is it important now?
Towns desperate need for more local revenues
By our success, land trusts could become a target
How can we respond?
Politically – oppose PILOT legislation with our non-profit peers
Legally – place protective overlays on lands to destroy/dampen value
Administratively – guide assessors to reflect true values

7. New England Forestry Foundation v. Town of Hawley Board of Assessors
The Hawley MA (pop. 336) Assessors denied NEFF’s claim of exemption for the 134-acre Stetson-Phelps Memorial Forest after NEFF stopped paying PILOT under Ch. 61

8. Outreach to Assessors What to do first:
Create spreadsheet of your property inventory
Collect all assessing data on your lands (field cards)
Analyze the values (some just out of whack)
Meet with assessing staff: introduce the land trust, its activities, ask to have the valuation of LT lands explained, if you don’t understand the system

9. Analysis of a land trust property inventory: Established 1983
Now, largest private landowner in town
Owns 103 parcels, total 304 acres
Assessed FY09 valuation = $27,000,000
Average value per LT acre = $89,000
If all taxed at 100% = $159,000 property taxes / year
If all taxed at PILOT 25% = $40,000 / year
Source: The Compact of CC Conservation Trusts, Inc., 2009

10. 42 acres assessed at $1,293,400 100% Primary Acre 60% Secondary acre
10% Residual upland
42 acres assessed at $1,293,400

11. 340 acres assessed at $3,093,500

12. 8 acres assessed at $823,400

13. 12 acres assessed at $603,100
inc. 6 acres of wetland at $2,000 per acre

14. Dampening value
If a LT has no legal protection overlaying the ownership of its lands,
the Assessor can, rightly, believe that you can sell the land and so it should be carried on the tax rolls as a valuable marketable asset.
If you have taken steps to place a CR or charitable trust on the land, the Assessor is obligated to take note of the effect on the speculative value of the land.

15. Enroll under Ch. 61B One way to dampen assessed value: Good news:
Knocked 90% off valuation ($222,300 to $22,400)
Politically, wise move to pay something
Bad news:
Land Trust still paying some taxes
Creates precedent
42.24 acres under Ch. 61B
Class Code Nature Study - areas specifically for nature study or observation

16. 25 acres assessed at $585,100
$23,404 per acre
with CR held by Town

17. 0.5 acre building lot assessed at $68,600
was reduced to $7,600 to reflect the charitable trust imposed in the 2006 deeds

18. 0.5 acre building lot assessed at $750,700
was reduced to $19,200 to reflect the charitable trust imposed in the 2005 deeds

19. TRUE FACT:
Recognizing the impact of protective overlays
meaning
conservation restrictions & charitable trust deeds, the Assessor reduced the total valuation of lands owned by Brewster Conservation Trust
from $27 million to $4.5 million.

20. For More Information: email Mark Robinson at mark@thecompact.net