Making the Case for CLTC
On February 26, SVT Executive Director Lisa Vernegaard, together with colleagues Emily Myron from The Nature Conservancy and Buzz Constable from the Mass Land Trust Coalition, met with Massachusetts State Senate President Karen Spilka to discuss the Conservation Land Tax Credit (CLTC) program.
This incentive program provides tax credits to landowners who donate conservation restrictions on their land or donate the land itself for conservation. The CLTC has enjoyed broad-based bipartisan support and has been a tremendous catalyst in helping to save over 12,600 acres of natural lands, working forests, and farms in and beyond SVT's region.
An individual landowner can receive a maximum of $75,000 in tax credits, even though the value of the land may far exceed that. The program has been a powerful tool for conservation: Each $1 in tax credit has yielded $4.34 worth of land for conservation.
Currently, the CLTC program can extend a maximum of $2 million in tax credits each year. This limit has created a backlog of requests and is slowing the pace of conservation, so conservationists have been encouraging legislators to raise the annual cap.
The group at the February 26 meeting enjoyed a good discussion about the proposed increase, which could eliminate the backlog and increase the pace of conservation across the Commonwealth.
The three conservationists also thanked President Spilka for her leadership on the Senate’s recent work on climate bills and for the Senate's recognition that by sequestering carbon, our natural and working lands can play an important role in the state’s effort to reach its emissions reductions goals.