Executive Address
August 2009
With the state’s need to close a $26.3 billion dollar gap, county budgets will absorb a great amount of the required $15 billion in spending cuts. How will this affect our local County Ag Commissioner’s Office and many of the services provided therein? According to Jay Seslowe, Assistant Ag Commissioner, the department derives 68 percent of its budget dollars from contracts with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), the Department of Pesticide Regulation and other government agencies. Only 32 percent is income from the state’s general fund, passed down through the county. The County Ag Department is already down three staff members, and has suffered furlough days recently. Seslowe commented “Because of our frugal County Administrator, our county isn’t in as dire straights when compared to some.” Madera County will be running at what is considered a relatively low deficit of $6-$7 million, while other counties are looking at numbers in the $25 plus million range.
"... Our county isn’t in as dire straights when compared to some ..."
One source of income for the County is Williamson Act subventions. Subventions are “backfill” for lost tax dollars to the county for production agriculture properties qualified for a lower tax rate. Currently, Madera County receives $1,344,846 in Williamson Act subventions. The Williamson Act program suffered a 10 percent hit in last year’s budget, resulting in a funding level of $37.6 million.
In the latest version of the state budget, passed only days ago, the Governor weilded his blue pen and eliminated the Williamson Act entirely. If counties choose to exit the program by nonrenewing all of their Williamson Act contracts, a landowner's only option would be to protest the notice of nonrenewal. A written protest filed with the county would result in the maintenance of the Williamson Act property values until there is less than six years on the contract. At that time the property taxes on the farm or ranch land would escalate very quickly to the acquisition value under Proposition 13.
The loss of the Williamson Act’s property tax relief could jeopardize our next generations of California food producers.
An eventual demise of the Williamson Act due to California’s ongoing budget crisis could result in a return to the land use policies of the 1960’s and 1970’s that resulted in the loss of millions of acres of farm and ranch land, including watershed areas and wildlife habitat, to uncontrolled urban and suburban growth.
In addition to the property tax relief, over half of California farmers and ranchers participate in the Williamson Act because they believe that farming and ranching is the highest and best use of their land, they have an emotional attachment to the land and they want to pass it on to the next generation as farm or ranch land. The loss of the Williamson Act’s property tax relief could jeopardize our next generations of California food producers.
The governor’s unilateral action poses a serious risk to continuation of all of these economic and environmental benefits. We at the Farm Bureau will continue to advocate for the inclusion of this essential program, and hope that it will be restored, as it has been in many years past.