The Opacum Land Trust

“Monitoring, inspecting, handling violations and enforcement of conservation easements is the responsibility of the stewardship committee, and expectations/policies regarding their responsibilities are outlined in the stewardship committee description. All properties are monitored annually, and a record of the monitoring visit is documented using a standard monitoring form. Opacum land trust uses the standards and practices established by the land trust alliance to guide all policies and practices regarding conservation easements. The recorded conservation easement documents include a section granting the organization access to the conservation easements for inspection and to remedy and violations. The conservation easement document also describes how a baseline documentation report will be used as evidence of the original condition of the property and conservation values when monitoring the property.”

“Conservation easement acquisition costs are expensed as incurred.”

“The trust, incorporated under chapter 180 of the massachusetts general laws as a tax-exempt entity, has been granted tax-exempt status under internal revenue code section 501(c)(3), and is, therefore, generally exempt from federal and state income taxes. Accordingly, no provision for income taxes has been included in the accompanying financial statements. The trust is required by asc 740-10, "income taxes," to evaluate and disclose tax positions that could have an effect on the trust's financial statements. The trust reports its activities to the internal revenue service and to the commonwealth of massachusetts on an annual basis. These informational returns are generally subject to audit and review by the governmental agencies for a period of three years after filing. Substantially all of the trust's income, expenditures and activities relate to its exempt purpose, therefore, management has determined that the trust is not subject to unrelated business income taxes and will continue to qualify as a tax exempt not-for-profit entity.”