Can municipalities raise public funds to purchase conservation land or easements?
A. Yes. New Hampshire’s rapid growth in the past several years has spurred interest among people in many municipalities to conserve open space and to seek ways to raise public funds to acquire conservation land or conservation easements. There are a number of ways this can be accomplished, including appropriating funds to the conservation commission, appropriating all or a portion of revenues collected from the land use change tax to the conservation commission’s conservation fund and appropriating funds to a capital reserve fund for land acquisition. And in the last few years several municipalities have approved bond articles to finance acquisition of conservation land. Q. How can municipalities use capital reserve funds to acquire conservation land? A. Cities must follow the provisions of RSA Chapter 34. Towns are governed by RSA Chapter 35. The purposes for which municipalities can establish capital reserve funds are spelled out in those statutes. For towns, see RSA 35:1, III-a; the
