COLUSA COUNTY, CA (MPG) – The Colusa County Board of Supervisors voted 4 -1 on Aug. 29 to once again implement AB 1265, which allows the jurisdiction to reduce 10-year California Land Conservation Act (Williamson) contracts to nine years, and the 20-year Farmland Security Zone contracts at 18 years, as a way to make up for some of the county’s property tax losses that result from landowner participation in the long-running agriculture and open space preservation program.
Supervisors said it’s a painful decision to make each year because the Williamson Act is a state program that the California Legislature stopped funding, leaving county taxpayers to shoulder the burden for services and programs state funding once supported.
But without the tax breaks, farmers and ranchers said they would likely go under and stop producing the world’s food – and possibly be forced to sell land to hedge funds, commercial developers, and large corporations.
“I’m very concerned with any changes to the Williamson Act,” said Daniel O’Connell, president of the Glenn-Colusa Cattlemen’s Association, at a public hearing. “I certainly sympathize with the Board’s situation with the state not honoring its part of the deal by backfilling the subvention funds; but I think any changes and, ultimately, non-renewals of the contracts would have dire long-term consequences to our agricultural community. I hope this is not the beginning of the end for the Williamson Act in Colusa County. As farmers and ranchers, we have been under constant attack by skyrocketing input costs, labor issues, additional regulations, and low commodity prices. We operate within margins and any changes to the Williamson Act could be the nail in the coffin for me and for family farms.”
Colusa County has about 318,000 acres of land enrolled in nine-year Williamson Act contracts, and about 20,000 acres enrolled in the Super (18-year) Williamson Act.
Since the state stopped funding the open space conservation program in 2009, Colusa County, school districts, and special districts countywide have lost approximately $48 million total in revenue, said Community Development Director Greg Plucker.
Amending the contracts to nine and 18 years will, at least, allow the county to recapture about $417,000 this year while still allowing farmers and ranchers to receive more than $3.5 million in tax savings, Plucker said.
Only Supervisor Merced Corona voted against implementing the amended Williamson Act contracts. Since first elected in 2018, Corona has advocated instead for the county to permanently withdraw from the Land Conservation contracts, which would put more than $3 million in property tax revenue back into county coffers annually.
Since 2009, only one California county has withdrawn from the program, while most have stayed in to protect agriculture, hoping the state will eventually resume subsidizing the program. The county began amending its contracts to shorter terms in 2018 to recover 10 percent of lost tax revenue.
“This AB 1265 gives us the best opportunity to keep our foot in the door,” said Supervisor
Gary Evans.