Crested Butte Land Trust

“All costs associated with conservation easements are expensed. Donations of conservation easements are not recognized, as the value an easement donor is able to deduct for income tax purposes is not available to the recipient conservancy organization.”

“Conservation lands are properties owned by the land trust that have significant ecological value. These properties are managed in an effort to protect the natural biological diversity of the property. Conservation lands are lands held for the furtherance of the land trust's conservation mission rather than for financial gain. These properties are protected, are cared for and preserved, and are subject to the land trust's policy that requires the proceeds from any sales of these lands to be used to acquire other conservation land or land interests. The management of the land trust believes that its conservation lands meet the definition of a "collection" as defined in the accounting standards codification ("codification"), and has adopted a policy of not capitalizing collection items. As such, conservation land acquired through purchase or contribution is not recognized as an asset on the statement of financial position. Purchases of conservation land are recorded as decreases in unrestricted net assets in the year in which the land is acquired, or as a decrease in temporarily or permanantly restricted net assets in the year if the assets used to purchase the land are restricted by donors. Contributions of conservation land are not reflected on the financial statement proceeds from the sale of conservation land are recognized as increases in the appropriate net asset classes.”

“The organization uses their board designated endowment funds for expenditures relating to monitoring, managing, and defending conservation easements and acquisitions held by the organization.”

“The land trust is a not-for-profit organization that is exempt from federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code (irc) and state income taxes under regulations in the state of colorado. Therefore, the land trust is not subject to federal or state income taxes in connection with its exempt activities. In addition, the land trust is treated as an entity that is not a private foundation within the meaning of section 509(a) and qualifies for deductible contributions as provided in section 170(b)(1)(a)(vi). There was no unrelated business income for the period covered by this tax return. The standards on accounting for uncertainty in income taxes addresses the determination of whether tax benefits claimed or expected to be claimed on a tax return should be recorded in the financial statements. Under that guidance, the land trust may recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. Examples of tax positions include the tax-exempt status of the land trust and various positions related to the potential sources of unrelated business taxable income (ubti). The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. There were no unrecognized tax benefits identified or recorded as liabilities for the period covered by this tax return. The land trust's prior three years of tax returns are subject to examination by taxing authorities.”