State soaks up Willamson Act funds, may leave counties dry

When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger closed the California State budget in July, he mopped up $27.8 million in Williamson Act funds statewide, removing $237,000 that was expected to fall in the Shasta County's 2009-10 budget, according to Wayne Stevens, Shasta County Deputy Assessor/Recorder in Evaluations said in a meeting last week at the Millville Grange hall in Palo Cedro.

The fund served to reimburse counties that lowered the property tax of qualifying agricultural land from full market value. In exchange for the lower property taxes, landowners restricted land use to agricultural purposes.

Shasta County is mildly affected, by comparison, with Tehama County to lose $1 million in Williamson Act funds.

"The California Land Conservation Act of 1965 - commonly referred to as the Williamson Act - enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use," according to California Department of Conservation Web site.

"In return, landowners receive property tax assessments which are much lower than normal because they are based upon farming and open space uses as opposed to full market value. Local governments receive an annual subvention of forgone property tax revenues from the state via the Open Space Subvention Act of 1971."

The tax is based on value of production rather than market land value, which is much higher, said Richard Simon, assistant director of Shasta County Department of Resource Management.

"There is no decision by Shasta County for you to be affected by the lack of subvention (funding) from the state," Shasta County Chief Administrative Officer Larry Lees said.

Lees warned that making an immediate move to pass the burden onto the landowners would reaffirm the state's rationale that the funding cut was justified.

"We're trying to create as much leverage in Sacramento as we can to not pick up the slack," Lees said. "We still don't know whether the governor had the legal right to do it."

"The board does not want to take this away," Shasta County Supervisor of District 5 Glen Hawes said at the meeting. "It has worked well for a number of years."

Otherwise, Cottonwood cattle rancher Chuck Lema said he could eventually lose an extra $6,000 per year across his 220 acres.

"That's going to kill agriculture real quick," past president of the board of the Shasta County Cattlemen Bill Gregory said.