Day Four

Kevin was called in for jury duty today so as a result came to work a little later. This gave me time to read over the GOCO Grant Application Selection Criteria for Submittal document. After he arrived we discussed questions I had concerning the difference between buying an easement and buying a fee interest. If a landowner sells a conservation easement they still maintain ownership over the property but they have given up rights to develop and build on that property. However if they city buys a fee interest then they own the property and the previous landowner does not have any responsibilities in relation to the land. I also found it interesting that if a landowner donates property for a conservation easement they receive a tax deduction. This tax deduction is determined by the difference of the value of the property if it was developed or not but if the landowner does not pay that amount of money in taxes they can sell the tax credits to other people! Today I also found out that the Sherman parcel located on the other side of the train tracks is not a part of the conservation easement so it can be developed.





Sherman Parcel

Tomorrow I am going to continue research and the explanations of the individual pieces of the process.