The San Francisco Chronicle is carrying a story by Drew Joseph on the importance of the federal conservation tax incentive to the preservation of agricultural land in the Bay Area.
Andy Beckstoffer, the founder of Napa Valley’s Beckstoffer Vineyards, wanted to donate a piece of his land to conservation, but it didn’t make sense financially – his property would bring in much more if he sold it than left it to grow grapes forever.
But when Congress passed legislation in 2006 to bolster tax deductions to those who donated conservation easements, Beckstoffer set aside the 90-acre To Kalon Vineyard in Rutherford.
“The tax incentive changed it all,” Beckstoffer said recently.
Now Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, is pushing to make permanent his temporary legislation that has prompted Beckstoffer and hundreds of other landowners across the nation to protect property from development.
The legislation, which expires at year’s end, has helped increase conservation easements by 50 percent nationwide, according to Thompson. But the bill is most important in the Bay Area, he said, because of the region’s rapid development rate and sky-high land values.
Full story here.
Last week’s edition of TPL’s Washington Watch newsletter contained more information about the effort to reauthorize this important bill.
Sponsors of legislation to enact a permanent extension of the incentive are pressing House leadership to schedule a vote on the legislation. If the current law is permitted to expire, then donations of conservation easements will be treated the same as other charitable donations, subject to the 30% limit of adjusted gross income with a carryover period of only five years. Read More.
Washington Watch is published by TPL’s Federal Affairs folks and is available by free subscription.
