HB19-1091: Conservation Easement Transparency

• Property owners must sign a disclosure form before creating a conservation easement that acknowledges 11 specified risks and consequences, including that 14-18% of Colorado easements have been disallowed and approved appraisals are typically lower than initial estimates.

• County clerks must submit complete copies of recorded conservation easement agreements, amendments, and transfers to the Commissioner of Agriculture and county tax assessor within 30 days, with tracking forms made publicly available on the Department of Agriculture website.

• Commissioner of Agriculture must work with local governments to create and annually update a statewide database of conservation easements since January 1, 1998, including location, acreage, grantor/grantee information, conservation purposes, and tax credits claimed, with a corresponding geographic information system map available to the public at no charge.

• Conservation easements cannot be extinguished through "merger" by acquiring fee title to the underlying property.

• Landowners whose conservation easement tax credits are disallowed may elect to extinguish the easement with full reimbursement of costs and tax liabilities from the state, with the Attorney General assisting in obtaining court orders for extinguishment.