@Tucky512 wrote:
There really would be no damages - it is just a slice with a few trees at the back end of about .5 acre of trees behind my home. They are paying both portions of these fees up front. I can't see it decreasing my property value as 1) the loss of a few trees is negligible. 2) plus, the small substation / pipeline right of way where the construction will happen has been there longer than I have owned the home (28 yrs)... I can't see that replacing a pipe that already exists harming the value. (they aren't digging a new line, etc.) Thanks - seems the pipeline rep if uninformed (willfully, I'm sure.)
Who knows what the utility rep knows about taxes. If you were giving them a new property easement, that permanently decreases the value of your land, at least notionally, making the payment non-taxable, and the rep may be more used to dealing with that kind of payment. Since you don't expect your property to lose value, you should plan on the entire payment being taxable.
