The Marin Agricultural Land Trust has returned $833,250 that Marin County gave it to preserve a tract in West Marin.
MALT used the money to help it purchase a $1.66 million agricultural easement on the 326-acre Dolcini-Beltrametti Ranch in 2017. The county asked MALT for a refund after the trust said it had failed to disclose a property appraisal that would have reduced the grant.
“We just thought the right thing to do was to ask for the money back,” said Max Korten, Marin County’s director of parks and open space.
The return of the money did not affect the easement.
The county money came from Measure A sales tax revenue. As approved by Marin voters in 2012, 20% of Measure A funds must be used for the protection of farmland at risk of subdivision or development in order to preserve Marin’s working farms and ranches.
The county is expecting a sharp drop in Measure A revenue in 2020-21 because of the coronavirus emergency.
“As part of a recent review of easement transactions, MALT staff noted that two separate appraisals were obtained to determine the valuation of the Dolcini-Beltrametti Ranch easement,” the trust said in a statement. “This property was at high risk of conversion to non-agricultural use given its location. Because the initial draft valuation for the easement was well below comparable values for MALT projects, MALT obtained a second appraisal and ultimately used the higher appraisal to value the easement.”
However, MALT’s application to the Marin County for Measure A funds neglected to mention the first appraisal.
MALT said its staff did not include the earlier appraisal because it was not mandated. MALT said the county’s application form for Measure A forms requires applicants only to include a valid appraisal to establish the valuation of a conservation easement.
“While MALT followed the letter of the county’s requirements for Measure A applications in this transaction, the recent follow up with the county was to ensure that all parties agreed MALT also adhered to the spirit of those requirements,” said Jamison Watts, MALT’s executive director.
“While many staff and the board of directors are involved in every transaction,” Watts said, “as MALT’s executive director, I take full responsibility for this Measure A application.”
Asked what prompted the review that turned up the failure to disclose the lower appraisal, MALT said it is standard practice for trusts accredited by the Land Trust Alliance — a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. — to periodically review easement acquisitions. The trust noted it will be seeking re-accreditation in 2021.
In an email, Bruce Runnels, chairman of the alliance’s accreditation commission, wrote, “To renew, an accredited land trust voluntarily submits to an external, independent review of their practices by the commission.”
The initial appraisal valued the easement at $1.13 million. Under that scenario, the county’s 50% match would have amounted to $567,500, more than $265,750 less than under the second appraisal of $1.66 million.
The second appraisal was done by John Bouyea of John Bouyea and Associates. MALT won’t say who did the initial appraisal.
“It is MALT’s policy not to discuss draft appraisals,” the trust wrote in a statement.
Regarding the reason for the second appraisal, MALT wrote that its “staff and board were concerned that offering a conservation easement purchase price well below appropriate market valuation for the easement would have left that property at risk of development.”
To date, not counting the Dolcini-Beltrametti Ranch easement, MALT has been awarded about $13.2 million in Measure A funds to protect 11 farms and ranches covering 6,692 acres.
MALT said that while there have been other easements that were supported in part by Measure A funds where more than one appraisal was commissioned, in those cases the terms of the easement were modified or the earlier appraisal was out of date.
“I appreciate MALT coming forward to let us know about this,” Korten said. “We don’t have any indication this is a pattern or that MALT has done this in other circumstances.”
The county is updating its guidelines to require the disclosure of any appraisal work produced within a 24-month window prior to an application for Measure A funds.
“We want to ensure that the county has all the information necessary to make a well-informed decision,” Korten said.
In a statement, MALT said it “has taken this opportunity to review its policies and procedures and make required updates to ensure a similar situation does not arise in the future.”
