Renew Our Land Bank Committee refutes ‘con’ statement in Voters’ Pamphlet

||| FROM CHRISTA CAMPBELL for RENEW OUR LAND BANK |||

Voters should be aware that the County does not fact-check statements in the voter’s pamphlet (WAC 434-381-180). Accordingly, to follow is Renew Our Land Bank (ROLB) committee’s fact-check of the ‘Con’ statement regarding SJC Proposition 1 to extend the 1% Conservation Area real estate excise tax (REET) paid at closing by new property buyers. Learn more facts at RenewOurLandBank.com

Con (Mis)Statement 1: Housing prices (in Nantucket) are 96% higher (than the national average) – all the result of the conservation agency model used for our Land Bank.

ROLB Response: We find no evidence to ascribe all (or even any) of Nantucket’s housing prices to the
existence of their public land conservation program. The 15 most expensive U.S. housing markets
(Kiplinger, July 2024) don’t have this public land conservation program. Housing affordability is a
nationwide, even global, crisis. Importantly, if the 1% Conservation Area REET fails to be reauthorized by
voters and it sunsets in 2026, the 0.5% Housing REET will also end, which will have a negative impact on
availability of local affordable housing. This is why all SIX Affordable Housing groups support the renewal
of the Conservation REET. renewourlandbank.com/affordable-housing

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Con (Mis)Statement 2: Land Bank property is exempt from taxation. That missing tax revenue burden then shifts to taxpayers.

ROLB Response: We’d call $15 on a $750K home a bargain, not a burden! Our Land Bank Preserves only
comprise 4.5% of county lands and if all Land Bank preserves were taxed, and the tax rate lowered as a
result, the savings to property owners would be approximately $2 per $100,000 in value. View the
calculations here: sjclandbank.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Calc-of-the-LB-impact-on-taxes-750K-4-
1-24.pdf

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Con (Mis)Statement 3: The LB has paid inflated prices for acquisitions by evading requirements for appraisals.

ROLB Response: Our Land Bank secures appraisals except in cases where the investment costs are clearly
below market value due to either the generosity of the seller or large contributions from grants and/or
partners. For every dollar the Land Bank has spent to buy property, it’s been able to leverage more than a
dollar in partner funds and grants, effectively cutting acquisition costs by more than half!

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Con (Mis)Statement 4: Legislation regarding use of REET proceeds is specific: exclusively for “the acquisition and maintenance of conservation areas.” Our Land Bank added on historical, scientific, and low intensity recreation uses.

ROLB Response: The Land Bank’s mandate has not changed. RCW 36.32.570’s definition of “conservation
area” as “land and water that has environmental, agricultural, aesthetic, cultural, scientific, historic,
scenic, or low-intensity recreational value…” has been in place since the Land Bank’s inception in 1990.