Gov. Brown again signs Williamson Act into law

A watered-down version of a long-standing state program that preserved land for agriculture was signed into law Friday, July 22, by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, authored the new bill resurrecting the Williamson Act. The bill was co-authored in the California State Senate by Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, among others.

The California Farm Bureau also worked hard to get the legislation passed and signed into law, Nielsen noted.

Nielsen and LaMalfa currently represent South Shasta County in their respective Assembly and Senate districts, although redistricting triggered by the 2010 U.S. Census may change that.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger virtually eliminated the $40 million per year Williamson Act in 2009 by slashing its budget statewide to $1,000.

Quick to comment on the enactment of his bill, Nielsen praised the governor and legislature for passing a law that brings victory to local government and farmers.

“This will provide peace of mind and hope for the future to our hard-working California farm families and their employees,” Nielsen wrote in a release issued late Thursday, July 28.

Previously, the Williamson Act preserved agriculture lands by allowing farmers to pay taxes based on the value of crop yields instead of land holdings.

In exchange, the farmers had to agree to keep using the land for agriculture for either 10 or 20 years.

Nielsen’s bill, A.B. 1265, allows counties to create new contracts that are 10 percent shorter in return for a 10 percent reduction in the landowner’s property tax relief. The farmers pay a bit more, but still not the full amount.

Farmers may also opt out of newer, shorter contracts or older, less beneficial contracts, with a letter of non-renewal.

California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office noted the bill would not generate enough revenue to fully resurrect the Williamson Act, but allowing counties to renegotiate contract terms with landowners may preserve enough of the program to prevent over-development as well as provide counties a way to recoup a portion of revenues unavailable for the last three years.