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CONSERVATION OPTIONSMaking a decision to preserve your land is a personal choice, which must work with your financial circumstances and vision for the future of the land. The Land Trust will help you find the right method for preserving your land while protecting our island’s natural and scenic character. Below are some of your options. Call Russ Marane at (912) 638-9185 for more information about your conservation options.
Sell Land at ‘Bargain Sale’ Price
Donate a Conservation Easement Our tool of choice, a conservation easement permanently preserves land while allowing you to continue to own and use your property. A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement between you and the Land Trust that permanently restricts the development and/or subdivision rights of the land. You may sell to anyone at any time. This tool is extremely flexible and can be tailored to meet a landowner’s needs. As a donor, you may be eligible for potentially significant tax benefits, including income tax deductions, estate tax reductions, and state tax credits. See our News Room for information about the Georgia tax credit program, introduced in 2006. Donating land to the Land Trust is a wonderful way to share its beauty with future generations. Your donation can contribute to public greenspace, expansion of existing parkland, or future nature trails or pocket parks. A charitable gift of land will enable you to take a tax deduction for the fair market value of the land, remove the land from your taxable estate, and eliminate your expense and responsibility to manage the land. You can also make a bequest or living trust, in which you donate land to the Land Trust through your will. A bequest or living trust permanently preserves the property, allows you to control the land during your lifetime, and may reduce your taxable estate. The bequest and living trust options are available for donations of land or conservation easements. Also referred to as a land donation with a reserved life estate, this option allows you to donate land and continue to live on it during your lifetime. At the end of your lifetime, and that of any named beneficiaries, the title and control of the land is automatically transferred to the Land Trust. The Land Trust may then retain the property, or preserve it with a conservation easement and sell it to an individual (generating income for future land preservation transactions). Sell Land at ‘Bargain Sale’ Price If you choose to sell your land, consider selling it to the Land Trust at less than the fair market value. This bargain sale enables you to qualify for an income tax deduction for the donated land value. You earn income from the land sale and benefit from the tax deduction; the charitable contribution can also reduce capital gains taxes due from the sale of the land. Earn income from your land by preserving it. |