The Town of Bethlehem is a step closer to providing tax exemptions on open space after the state legislature passed a measure to allow conservation easements for landowners.
The legislation, which was introduced by Sen. Neil Breslin and Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy in May, passed both houses before the end of session last week. Bethlehem Supervisor John Clarkson said the town is now waiting on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign the bill.
“The governor has until the end of the year, but we would obviously like him to sign it earlier then that so we can continue to move forward,” said Clarkson. “We plan on writing the governor and others in his administration in hopes he signs it soon, and I would expect success.”
When the legislation was introduced, Breslin said there were numerous benefits to preserving open space, but communities often don’t have the funds to do so. Fahy said the program would help the town promote open space preservation in “a fair manner,” while calling Bethlehem a “model community for land-use planning.”
For years, different advisory groups have suggested a conservation easement for the town, but the idea was reintroduced in February as a possible goal for the Bethlehem’s new Open Space Technical Advisory group. Some large landowners also expressed interested in an exemption during the recent reassessment processes as another way to provide tax relief.
Landowners could see an exemption of 50 to 90 percent on their general municipal and school district taxes by participating in the program, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
The exemption would mainly be based on how long they committed their land to remain open space, with the shortest amount of time being 15 years. No development can occur on the land during the easement’s timeframe.
The town’s Open Space Technical Advisory group has been discussing the guidelines for Bethlehem’s program. In early May, Planning Director Rob Leslie presented the Bethlehem Town Board with examples of conservation easements in other municipalities across the state.
Clarkson said the advisory group is reaching out to other towns that have similar easements to see how those programs were developed. Members are also seeking out advice on how to best administer the program in Bethlehem.
“Most other towns have a Conservation Board for oversight purposes, so we might look into doing that,” said Clarkson.
After the governor signs the bill, the town would still need to hold a public hearing and pass its own local law.
Depending on the amount of acreage approved to qualify for an easement, 157 parcels of land were identified in the town as “possible participants” in the program. Land already receiving an agricultural exemption would likely not qualify.
During the presentation in May, Leslie suggested a tax clawback be set into the law, so a landowner could still sell or develop their land if they wished. However, they or the purchaser would then need to pay the back taxes on the property. It is those types of details that will be included in discussions for the local law.
Clarkson said he hopes the new exemption will be in place for the 2015 town and county tax billing cycle.
“The entire town board is very excited about this,” said Clarkson. “It’s great from a policy perspective because now we can offer the easements people have wanted to do for some time. I believe it’s also the first time Bethlehem has had special legislation passed by the state.”
Clarkson said he hopes the town board can look into the matter more deeply during an upcoming meeting in July.