Sacramento, Calif. — A bill allowing for a change to Williamson
Act contracts has been signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a
move that may help local budgets next year.
Assembly Bill 2530, introduced by Assemblyman Jim Nielsen,
addresses the virtual dissolution of Williamson Act payments to
counties in the state budget for two years.
The Williamson Act provides the framework for city and county
governments to enter into 10-year contracts with landowners
allowing for the taxation of land used for production rather
than total land owned in exchange for keeping the land in
production and preserving it from development.
In years past, the state would reimburse counties for the tax
revenue lost from foregoing traditional assessment methods,
until the budget for the county payments was cut to $1,000 for
the entire state.
Under AB 2530, a county can revise new contracts if its
reimbursement payments are less than half of the actual tax
revenue foregone under the act. The new contracts can reduce the
amount of tax savings for the landowner, increasing their
payments to the county.
The bill also states that landowners can choose to start the
non-renewal process for their contracts, which phases out their
current lower payments over the remaining contract period until
they are paying the fully assessed value of their total land.
At the Tuesday special meeting of the Siskiyou County Board of
Supervisors, it was noted that any potential savings would not
be realized by the county until next year.
District 3 Supervisor Michael Kobseff, however, stated that
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen has been pushing for the inclusion of
$10 million in this year’s state budget for payment to counties
under the Williamson Act, which would potentially mean $200,000
in unanticipated revenues for Siskiyou County this year.
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