The cost of conservation From the cover
The overview
Comfort
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Kendall County Prop A properties Properties conserved through Prop A funding are named by the land owner's last name.
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Kendall County is working to conserve property and prevent large-scale development in the county’s natural areas. In 2022, voters supported Proposition A, a bond giving the county $20 million to be spent on “open space and conservation land and acquiring conservation easements on land for any authorized purposes,” according to the ballot language. Because the bonds are interest-bearing, 85% of funds must be spent within three years, requiring the county to pay around $17 million by June 2026. Rusty Busby, chair of the Proposition A Committee formed by Kendall County commissioners in 2023, told Community Impact that the committee is identifying properties to support with funding before the deadline. According to the Texas Agricultural Land Trust, a conservation easement is a voluntary restriction placed on property to protect natural, productive or cultural features. The easement is recorded as a legal agreement between the landowner and the holder of the easement, which may be a conservation organization or government agency.
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1 Gill 2 Harte
6 Miller 7 Kennon 8 Chipman
11 Evans 12 Robbins 13 Webster 14 Zinsmeister
3 Haberer 4 Pokorny 5 Rio Lupe
9 J. Drought 10 H. Drought
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Nelson City
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$1.8M for conservation easements $844 spent per acre of land conserved
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Boerne
$17M in total bond funds required to be spent by June
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MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCE: KENDALL COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
The cost
Kendall County Prop A Funding The county took out $20 million in general obligation bonds for conservation on June 1, 2023.
spend, nearly $13.84 million must be spent by the June deadline to meet the 85% threshold. Busby told Community Impact that the county pays the transaction cost for the properties, which are not to exceed $75,000. Once a trust company is chosen for a conserva- tion easement, it must maintain the property in perpetuity.
Busby said they have secured 2,320-plus acres in conservation easements so far. “That has totaled about $844 per acre that the county has spent from Proposition A money, which is about $1.8 million,” Busby said. In total, the county has spent around $3.16 million of the $20 million over the last two and a half years. With around $16.84 million left to
$20M total Amount remaining to spend by June Amount spent $3.16M $13.84M
$17M
SOURCE: KENDALL COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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