Four Ways To Increase Virginia's Global Competitiveness, Revive Virginia's Economy and Reduce the Cost of Housing

Conservation Easement Tax Credits

As I understand it, an agreement was made between Governor Wilder and the governors of Maryland and Delaware regarding improving the quality of the water in the Chesapeake Bay by restricting land development in their respective states.

The vehicle of choice in Virginia was conservation easement tax credits.  In theory this sounds appealing.  Here is the reality.  Most of the recipients of conservation easement tax credits, if measured on a scale ranging from poverty to wealthy...would appear to be wealthy because of the value of their land.

The critical questions no one appears to have asked are:

     1.  Does the cost of government go down if a tract of land is placed under a conservation easement?

          The obvious answer is...no.

     2.  Can conservation easements increase the cost of housing?

          Yes.  "In perpetuity" conservation easements have been used to block growth by making the provision of

          utilities and services prohibitively expensive.

     3.  How long is "in perpetuity"?

          It is a really long time.  In the 340+ years since Captain John Smith put his foot on the ground in Jamestown

          and claimed Virginia for his queen, Virginia has changed in ways that Captain Smith could not have foreseen.

     4.  Are we smart enough to be able to see how land should best be used 100 years from now, much less

          300 years from now?

          Do you think Captain John Smith would be surprised at Virginia if he returned today?

     5.  Is this the best possible use of Virginia taxpayers' money?

          Per the Secretary of Finance in Governor Kaine's administration, the unmet needs for infrastructure in Virginia

          exceed $1 Billion which is approximately the amount of tax dollars used for conservation easements to date.

          Which is better, conservation easements with decaying roads, sewer, and water systems or no conservation

          easements and modern roads and utilities?

How do you think Virginia's average citizen would vote if they were asked:

1. Do you want your taxes raised so that rich landowners can receive money to place their property in a conservation easement?
2. Should your tax dollars be spent on better roads, utilities, and schools or to fund conservation easements for wealthy landowners?

Conservation easements have several fallacies, the most serious of which include the following:

1. Conservation easements are granted perpetuity and perpetuity is a very long time.
2. Conservation easements are scattered around Virginia.  The fact is that it seems to be a program designed based on antigrowth rather than any scientific analysis.
3. Although I have attempted to find one, I cannot find a single repository of information anywhere in Virginia that identifies all of the properties that are subject to conservation easements.
4. Over the last eight years, Virginia has spent perhaps a total of $800 Million of Virginian taxpayer dollars on conservation easements.  Imagine if those funds had been available for repair of interstates, keeping rest-stops open, or upgrading the sanitary sewer systems of all the metropolitan areas that discharge their treated waste water into a river in Virginia.

Recommendation to improve Virginia's Global Competitiveness by reducing housing costs:

1. This program should be eliminated.
2. Virginia's tax money should instead be invested in upgrading and expanding all of the municipal sewer and waste systems, improving roads, and building broadband infrastructure to make Virginia more competitive globally.