Bonds

State and local governments often place bond measures on the ballot in order to raise money for land conservation efforts within their jurisdiction. State and local bonds can be crafted in a range of alternatives. Essentially repayment of the bond money is the biggest difference between the varieties of bonding options.

A sample of bond types includes: general obligation, revenue, assessment and special tax bonds.

A general obligation bond is backed by the credit rating and ability of a jurisdiction to generate tax money. A revenue bond is repaid from revenues generated from the project that is financed by the bond. An assessment bond relies on collecting taxes from citizens that directly benefit from the project that the bond funded. Special tax bonds may be repaid through taxation revenues of an activity or asset through excise or ad valorem, assessed value of real estate or property value, taxes.