Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday heard a report from Supervisor Richard Forster on the Williamson Act and its future in the face of cuts by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that will all but eliminate the program. Forster’s report was based on a recent meeting of the Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC), and was held in conjunction with a report from Cara Martinson of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), another body with a strong interest in funding outcomes for the Williamson Act. Forster said the groups have similar interests but differ in that RCRC just represents rural counties “while CSAC is all 58 counties and all 58 points of view.” Forster serves as Chair of an RCRC working group on the Williamson Act. Exercising his constitutional authority, Governor Schwarzenegger is eliminating direct subventions by reducing the annual appropriation from $27.8 million to $1,000 as a way to help close the state’s $20 billion budget deficit. Forster said Gary Wyatt, an Imperial County Supervisor and the immediate past Chair of CSAC, announced at a recent meeting that his county will file an “involuntary, non-renewal for all their contracts, saying that most of the farmers they’ve seen have the Williamson Act because it saves them money on their taxes and that’s it.” Forster said “hands went up around the table” in defense of the act and its “far-reaching” benefits. “We need that little bit of an edge from the Williamson Act to take property taxes down and keep essential open space, so it’s very important for us in Amador County as well as other counties,” said Forster. He said counties are having continuous weekly conference calls to discuss the issue. Since its passage in 1965, the Williamson Act has enabled local governments to provide extremely low tax assessments to owners of farm and open-space land in exchange for a ten-year agreement that the land remain undeveloped. Specifically, the Act is intended to promote voluntary land conservation. The statute applies to nearly 16.6 million acres in 53 counties- close to half of all California’s private farmland. Forster also commented on a recent report from the state legislative analyst’s office claiming few impacts to businesses from AB32 and SB375, two recent state laws that link local land-use decisions to reductions in emissions linked to global warming. Forster called that report “total hogwash.” “I don’t know what statistics they’re looking at, but people I know that are in corporate business in California are having a very difficult time and have had to put out millions of dollars for compliance with (state regulations),” said Forster. The Supervisors will respond with a statement that local businesses are suffering. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.-
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Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday heard a report from Supervisor Richard Forster on the Williamson Act and its future in the face of cuts by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that will all but eliminate the program. Forster’s report was based on a recent meeting of the Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC), and was held in conjunction with a report from Cara Martinson of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), another body with a strong interest in funding outcomes for the Williamson Act. Forster said the groups have similar interests but differ in that RCRC just represents rural counties “while CSAC is all 58 counties and all 58 points of view.” Forster serves as Chair of an RCRC working group on the Williamson Act. Exercising his constitutional authority, Governor Schwarzenegger is eliminating direct subventions by reducing the annual appropriation from $27.8 million to $1,000 as a way to help close the state’s $20 billion budget deficit. Forster said Gary Wyatt, an Imperial County Supervisor and the immediate past Chair of CSAC, announced at a recent meeting that his county will file an “involuntary, non-renewal for all their contracts, saying that most of the farmers they’ve seen have the Williamson Act because it saves them money on their taxes and that’s it.” Forster said “hands went up around the table” in defense of the act and its “far-reaching” benefits. “We need that little bit of an edge from the Williamson Act to take property taxes down and keep essential open space, so it’s very important for us in Amador County as well as other counties,” said Forster. He said counties are having continuous weekly conference calls to discuss the issue. Since its passage in 1965, the Williamson Act has enabled local governments to provide extremely low tax assessments to owners of farm and open-space land in exchange for a ten-year agreement that the land remain undeveloped. Specifically, the Act is intended to promote voluntary land conservation. The statute applies to nearly 16.6 million acres in 53 counties- close to half of all California’s private farmland. Forster also commented on a recent report from the state legislative analyst’s office claiming few impacts to businesses from AB32 and SB375, two recent state laws that link local land-use decisions to reductions in emissions linked to global warming. Forster called that report “total hogwash.” “I don’t know what statistics they’re looking at, but people I know that are in corporate business in California are having a very difficult time and have had to put out millions of dollars for compliance with (state regulations),” said Forster. The Supervisors will respond with a statement that local businesses are suffering. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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