The federal government is moving to take land from Colorado
landowners, WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT. Right now, as you read this, valuable time
is running on the landowners who are fighting to save their land.
These landowners were lured into executing
so-called “conservation easements” by Land Trust companies. The Land
Trusts looked for big profit made possible by government fear of conversions of agricultural land into residential, commercial
and industrial land use.
To guarantee preservation of agricultural
land, the federal government offered major deductions to any landowners who would give up the right to develop his farm or
ranch or any part of it. The state of Colorado
went further and offered tax credits to landowners who would commit their land to agricultural use FOREVER.
As in most of the nation, Colorado farmers and ranchers love the land and their way of life so much that they continue
to farm and ranch in spite of market fluctuations, in spite of natural disasters, in spite of severely restrictive government
regulations. Many of them were facing cash flow problems in 2003. That’s when the Land Trusts made their move, pushing the tax benefits as the reason landowners should
donate their development rights to the Trust.
Relying completely on the commitments of tax relief made by the U.S.
and Colorado, the landowners accepted the offers of assistance
made by the Land Trusts They gave away, as in DONATED, to the Land Trust Company the right to develop the property. Those
rights were valued, dollar wise, at far more than the land would appraise without them.
But, the landowners placed their desire for permanent preservation ahead of dollar value.
The landowners followed all the rules.
They engaged consultants, mostly referred by the Land Trusts. They hired appraisers certified by the state of Colorado as honest, ethical, and competent. Certified
public accountants were hired to review the appraisals of the development rights to make sure they were reasonable and soundly
based, and to review the financial situation of the landowner to weigh the value to the owner of adopting the easement. They hired lawyers to make sure the transactions were completed in lawfully defensible
manner. They were assured by all the participating professionals that the Land
Trust company, the donee of the development rights, was reliable and sound.
After relying on their completed transaction
for two to three years, suddenly the landowners were faced with IRS re=evaluation of the easements, findings that the appraisers
had overvalued the development rights and demands for back payment of taxes, plus penalties plus interest.
Following suit, Colorado even went so far as to proceed
against the appraisers, suspending some licenses because of improper appraisal process.
(each of the appraisers who has fought the suspensions through to completion has been reinstated, which indicates that
the state’s early action was not valid)
Independent reviews of the case files
now demonstrate the false base for IRS disqualifications. One family in southeastern
Colorado had cash flow problems and faced the need to sell
three 45 acre parcels. They did not want to sell for development. Relying on government commitments, they entered the conservation easement program to preserve their land
and continue farm operations. A Colorado
certified appraiser examined the parcels, reviewed current development in the immediate vicinity and placed an appraisal of
$510,000 for the development rights on each of the 45 acre parcels. So, the family donated that $510,000 worth of development
rights for each parcel. At the moment of signature, they gave away FOREVER
one million, three hundred thousand dollars of value.
The family paid $69,648.00 to the professionals who put together, reviewed and approved the conservation agreement.
They then made their deductions, took
one tax credit for themselves, and sold the rest to third parties who sought tax relief.
The IRS and Colorado got exactly what they had sought:
preservation of land without compensation, but with tax relief to the donor.
Then, the horror story began. After years of approval as far as
the family knew, the IRS served notice that the easements were disqualified because the development rights had been overappraised. The IRS claimed that its own appraisal showed that the development rights were worth
only SIX DOLLARS for all 135 acres. The State suspended the license of the appraiser,
and then fell into line, demanding repayment of the tax credit. All those third
parties who had purchased tax credits also demanded repayment.
As the IRS demands pay back of a value
more than the current value of the land after easement devaluation, the state of Colorado
stands on the sideline watching a family which relied on its tax credit lure go down.
The Governor’s office responds to inquiries by saying the matter is “federal” in nature.
The Land Trust, the owner of the easement, stands by and offers no assistance, including no offer to retransfer ownership
of the easement to the family.
The landowners cannot borrow money to
satisfy the “return” demands. The banks will not lend because of
the conservation easements which devalue the land. The landowners cannot sell
their land, or any portion of their land. Buyers are not willing to take on the
restrictions and devaluation of the land resulting from the conservation easements.
How You Can Help
Please write:
* Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
* US Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar
* President Barack Obama .....
Please indicate you are
outraged with the State of Colorado's swindle on landowners, who engaged in the Colorado Conservation Easement program.
Please ask Governor Ritter
to FIX THIS NOW, before hundreds, if not thousands, of honest, law abiding Colorado land owners are forced into bankruptcy,
simply because they participated in "good faith", in the Colorado's conservation easement program.
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
136 State Capital
Denver, CO 80202-1792
303-866-2471
303-866-2003 (FAX)
email: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovRitter/GOVR/1177024890452
Ken Salazar, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240
202-208-3100
e:mail: webteam@ios.doi.gov
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1414
202-456-2461 (FAX)
e:mail (go to): http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
