US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 13, April 4, 2011: On reconsideration, the US Tax Court affirms its previous decision saying that for a preservation easement to be eligible for a tax deduction, the holder of the easement must have an absolute right to a portion of proceeds from a sale after extinguishment of the easement. [...]
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The Nonprofit Law Prof Blog reported March 8 that “In Private Letter Ruling 201109030 (Dec. 8, 2010), released on March 4 … the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) revoked the federal income tax exemption of an organization … [that] received donations of five conservation easements…” Each easement area was inappropriate in some significant way. The [...] United States Bankruptcy Court, E. D. NY, No: 8-10-70231-478, May 20, 2010: Held a Debtor in a c. 11 bankruptcy proceeding may not sell its real property free and clear of a Development Rights restriction for agricultural preservation held by a county and town. The Debtor’s debtor-in-possession lender sought to have the property sold free and [...] T.C. Memo. 2010-283; No. 14374-08, December 27, 2010: Tax Court creates its own appraisal of the value of a conservation easement using the before-and-after method; considers evidence of lot sales after the date the easement was donated.
The taxpayer argued that only the comparable sales appraisal method could be used because data on sales of comparables conservation [...] United States Tax Court, 135 T.C. No. 24, Nov. 4, 2010: Affirms, based on a quid pro quo benefit that exceeded the donation, the IRS denial of a charitable deduction by Petitioner Rolfs for his gift to the local fire department of a house (but not the land on which it was located) for the express [...] California, Sept. 30, 2010: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed … SB1142, by Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, which aims to expand the sources of grant money that the state can use to preserve farmland through easements. The bill allows the state to buy farmland-conservation easements that also require some environmental aim, like preservation of wildlife habitat. [...] Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, No. 1017, October 5, 2010: Sets aside the conveyance of a portion of land encumbered an agricultural preservation easement that was deeded without the prior approval of the easement holder; affirms that conveyance requires such prior approval. In 1999, owner Stitzel entered into an Agricultural Land Preservation District Agreement with the [...] Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, No. 2-09-1345, September 22, 2010: This appeal of the trial court’s balancing of equities when setting remedies for violation of a conservation easement was denied because the Appellate Court found the a balancing was appropriate and the trial court had not abused its discretion. The easement violation and remedy were [...] United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, No. 3:09-cv-00075, September 29, 2010: This attempt by a conservation easement holder to defend the easement area from treated sewage discharge under a state-issued NPDES permit failed as the Court held that US EPA’s decision not to object to the permit did not require prior review under the National Historic [...] A web page titled, Conservation Easements Legislative Update 2010, By R. Lee Stephens, Jr. and Robert J. Allen, posted May 24, 2010, by the Virginia law firm Spotts Fain summarizes bills signed into law following the most recent Virginia General Assembly session. Obviously, I can’t comment on [...] Supreme Court of New Hampshire, No. 2009-335, May 20, 2010 New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department, 2010 NY Slip Op 03821, May 6, 2010 Summary judgment upholding the Boy Scouts’ 2002 grant of a conservation easement to NY State that allows public access via a right-of-way that crosses plaintiff-neighbor’s land. At issue was whether the State’s allowing use of the ROW by the public impermissibly [...] The amicus briefs of National Trust for Historic Preservation and Trust for Architectural Easements supporting a rehearing in Kaufman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue are available. The key issue is whether a mortgage holder’s priority claim on casualty insurance and condemnation proceeds causes a “conservation restriction” to lose its status as perpetual (under IRS regs) notwithstanding [...] Per the Land Trust Alliance report on March 10, 2010, “the Senate voted 62 to 36 to pass H.R. 4213, a package of tax ‘extenders’ and other provisions that includes a one-year extension of the enhanced tax deduction for conservation easements.” The NRDC reports, however, that the bill, “contains two harmful environmental provisions. One extends liquid [...] New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed The Natural Heritage Conservation Act, SB 186. The Associated Press reported March 9, 2010, “[the] new law will allow the state to acquire conservation easements from farmers, ranchers and other landowners to ensure that the property is not developed.” The Act also establishes a fund that can attract federal [...] The Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog in a February 25, 2010, post headed, “Wyoming Attorney General Prevents the Wrongful Termination of a Perpetual Conservation Easement,” reported, “After over six years of litigation, a case involving a Wyoming county’s attempted termination of a perpetual conservation easement has settled, with the conservation easement remaining in full force [...] |
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