A new  proposed state conservation tax credit needs support.  The  
information below is for anyone who might  be interested.  
 
The Iowa Legislature  passed the tax credit this year, with bipartisan 
support, for  landowners who donate easements or land for conservation purposes.  
Now it  is part of a budget bill.  Governor Culver can sign the bill with the  
tax credit included, but he also has the power to item-veto tax credits out  of 
the bill.   
This kind of tax credit is already offered by  twelve other states.  Those 
states have seen significant increases in  landowner donations as a result.   
If you want to support the credit, please  contact the Governor's office as 
soon as possible.  You can use their email  form at the address below, or phone 
the Office of the Governor at  515-281-5211. 
_http://www.governor.iowa.gov/administration/contact/_ 
(http://www.governor.iowa.gov/administration/contact/)   
Here's one sample message, but please use  your own words: 
Dear Governor Culver and Lt. Governor  Judge, 
Please support the Conservation Tax Credit in  HF 2700.  This credit will 
reward landowners who donate land or  conservation easements, and will encourage 
more donations. 
We need more protected land in Iowa, for  the sake of recreation, water 
quality, and wildlife.  This kind of credit  has increased land donations in other 
states, and is especially helpful to  landowners with moderate incomes. 
The benefits of this tax credit will  extend far into the future.  At a time 
when more and  more Iowa land is being put into rowcrops, it is especially  
needed.   Please sign this credit into law, and thank you for  your 
consideration. 
*** 
The factual information below is  being supplied with the permission of the 
Iowa Natural Heritage  Foundation, which has supported this tax credit from the 
beginning.    Thank you, INHF. 
    *   Landowners will be able to  receive an income tax credit for 50% of 
the fair market value of their  contribution, up to $100,000 maximum credit. If 
their tax credit is larger  than they can use in one year, they can carry the 
excess credit forward for up  to 20 years. 

    *   The Iowa Natural Heritage  Foundation has worked during 2007-08 to 
encourage passage of this tax credit.  In our daily work with landowners, we see 
how important it can be to make land  protection choices more affordable for 
Iowa landowners.

    *   This state income tax credit  was a top recommendation of the 
Sustainable  Natural Resource Funding Advisory Committee - led by bi-partisan members 
of the  Iowa legislature along with many of the state’s leading conservation, 
 environmental, sportsmen, and agriculture advocates 
(_http://www.iowadnr.com/sustainablefunding/index.html_ 
(http://www.iowadnr.com/sustainablefunding/index.html)  )

    *   In 2007 it was introduced and  passed the Iowa Senate as Senate File 
587. The same language was added to a  larger budget bill in the Iowa House in 
the final days of this year’s  legislative session.  You can  see the text of 
the new tax credit at 
_http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Legislation/82ndGA//Bills/SenateFiles/Introduced/SF587.html_ 
(http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Legislation/82ndGA/Bills/SenateFiles/Introduced/SF587.html)  .

 
Thanks for your  interest and help!


Cindy  Hildebrand
[log in to unmask]
Ames, IA  50010

"That we find a  crystal or a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone, 
that we are more  deeply inserted into existence than the course of a single 
life would lead us to  believe." (John Berger)

 



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