Lancaster County Conservancy

“The conservancy acquires conservation interests in land, including land held in fee, conservation easements, and leasehold interests in land by donation and purchase. Land purchased and held in fee is recorded at cost. Land held in fee that is received by donation is recorded at fair value at the date of donation. Donated land, totaling approximately 88 acres, received prior to december 31, 1991, is not recorded in the financial statements because no appraisal was performed at the time of the donation to obtain the fair market value of the property. The conservancy holds conservation easements on various properties in lancaster county that are designed to prohibit the development or alteration of the property in any way inconsistent with the easement. Although conservation easements bring significant value to the conservancy's purpose, they have no financial value, other than the direct acquisition costs. For this reason, only direct costs incurred to acquire easements are capitalized, whereas donated conservation easements are not reflected in the financial statements. The conservancy also holds a conservation interest in the form of a lease. The lease is being renewed on a year-to-year basis and payments are expensed as they are paid. The conservancy has the ongoing commitment to ensure the preservation and maintenance of its conservation interests. Although the amounts for land held in fee are shown as unrestricted net assets in the statement of financial position, it is the conservancy's intention to hold them indefinitely. In most cases, the conservancy would need to obtain the permission of the original funder from which the grant or contribution proceeds used to purchase the land held in fee were received before selling a parcel of land. As of december 31, 2016, the conservancy held the following conservation interests: carrying amount acreage land held in fee $34,031,472 5,065 conservation easements held directly 35,525 559 indirectly 23,938 379 total $34,090,935 leases,conservation land use 62 total acres held in fee or easements 6,065”

“Only the income that the endowment earns can be used for any purpose that the organization chooses.”

“The conservancy is exempt from federal income tax under internal revenue code section 501(c)(3). The conservancy adheres to the provisions of fasb asc 740, income taxes. Asc 740 establishes rules for recognizing and measuring tax positions taken in an income tax return, including disclosures of uncertain tax positions (utps). Asc 740 mandates that companies evaluate all material income tax positions for periods that remain open under applicable statutes of limitation, as well as positions expected to be taken in future returns. The utp rules then impose a recognition threshold on each tax position. A company can recognize an income tax benefit only if the position has a "more likely than not" (i.e., more than 50 percent) chance of being sustained on the technical merits. For the years ended december 31, 2016 and 2015, the conservancy has taken no material tax positions on its applicable tax filings that do not meet the "more likely than not" threshold. As a result, no amount for utps has been included in the financial statements. Management believes it is no longer subject to income tax examinations for years prior to 2013.”

“Expenses netted with special events revenue 37,634. Expenses netted with rent income 3,898.”

“Expenses netted with special events revenue 37,634. Expenses netted with rent income 3,898.”