MD Rahman

SENATOR RAHMAN LEADS SENATE PASSAGE OF LEGISLATION CREATING TAX ABATEMENT FOR CERTAIN CONSERVATION EASEMENTS

Today, State Senator MD Rahman (D-Manchester), Senate Chair of the Planning and Development Committee, led the Senate’s passage of legislation that will establish a tax abatement for certain conservation easements.

Under Senate Bill 998, “An Act Establishing A Tax Abatement For Certain Conservation Easements,” municipalities could optionally exempt any portion of land from real property taxes that qualifies as a greenway, is a recreational trail less than one hundred feet wide and is subject to a conservation easement conveyed from its owner to a municipality, the state or a nonprofit land conservation organization. The bill also specifies that a greenway trail corridor can be deemed open space land.

“Abatements for conservation, specifically to aid the development and preservation of local trails, can be a valuable tool for municipalities to use,” said Sen. Rahman. “This bill will provide towns and cities with new options and opportunities to support local recreation, supporting community health and local property values in the process. I look forward to this bill passing the House and becoming law.”

This bill received significant support from land conservation groups, with the East Coast Greenway Alliance, Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, Connecticut Forest and Park Association and Connecticut Land Conservation Council, among others, all supported the development of this tax abatement, noting that while private landowners play a role in keeping trail corridors unbroken, those lands are also vulnerable to disruption without incentives for protection. They noted that completed trails also boost local property values, which would play a role in reducing the small decrease in local tax rolls created by the legislation.

Samuel S. Gold, Executive Director of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, also testified in support, noting that the abatements would be a tool to municipalities working to make their communities more livable.

The bill previously passed the Planning and Development Committee by a 14-7 tally in March, the Appropriations Committee by a 35-17 tally in May and the Finance Committee by a 37-13 tally in May. It now heads to the House for further consideration.