Item Description:
title
Authorize the County Assessor to consider impact of conservation easements on property values
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Resolution:
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BE IT RESOLVED, that the County Assessor is authorized to consider the impacts of conservation easements on property values.
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Background:
In 2025, Hennepin County and partners successfully advocated a change to Minnesota Statute 273.117 (www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/273.117) authorizing metropolitan counties that have adopted a program to protect farmland or natural areas to, by resolution, authorize the assessor to consider the impact of a conservation easement on a property’s value. Prior to this 2025 law change, county assessors were prohibited from reducing the value of a parcel due to a conservation easement, except in limited circumstances. This resolution would allow the Hennepin County Assessor to do so.
As the Soil and Water Conservation District, Hennepin County works with residents and partner organizations to protect and restore habitat through conservation easements. A conservation easement is a legally binding agreement, voluntarily entered into by the landowner, that permanently protects the property from future development and restores the site’s natural features. In 2016, Hennepin County adopted the Conservation Easement Program, formalizing the county’s work to permanently protect natural resource corridors and ecologically significant natural areas (Resolution 16-0144R2).
Conservation easements provide wildlife habitat, support clean water and air, sequester carbon, and improve the county’s resilience to the impacts of climate change. Because of these benefits, Hennepin County’s Climate Action Plan set a goal of acquiring 6,000 acres of conservation easements by 2040. We are nearly 20% of the way toward achieving our goal with 1,096 acres permanently protected.
After five years of working toward this climate goal, one barrier to participation has been the inability to recognize the reduction in property values as a result of enacting a conservation easement.
Authorizing the assessor to consider the impact of a conservation easement on a property’s value provides more accurate property tax valuations. Property values can be adjusted when an easement is established, ensuring a landowner’s taxes reflect the restrictions on their property’s future development potential.
Making property tax assessments fairer to conservation easement owners will make participation more accessible to more residents, ensuring the viability of the county’s 6,000-acre easement goal and preserving Hennepin County’s most critical natural areas for generations to come.
recommendation
Recommendation from County Administrator: Recommend Approval