By Craig W. Anderson

Nov. 22 was a landmark day for the Williamson Act as the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 not to implement the provisions of AB 1265 which would have allowed the supervisors to reduce Williamson Act contracts by 10 percent.

Supervisors Larry Ruhstaller, Steve Bestolarides and Leroy Ornellas voted to retain the current tax break provided by the Williamson Act. Supervisor Ken Vogel recused himself because, as a farmer, he has lands under Williamson Act contract and Carlos Villapudua did not attend the meeting due to the recent passing of his father.

Ornellas said AB 1265 is a “ploy by the state to eliminate the Williamson Act entirely.”

Elimination postponed, will return
The vote amounted to a postponement of the decision for at least a year. AB 1265’s cuts would have started in 2013-2014 with a sunset on Jan. 1, 2016.

“We can certainly expect this matter to return to the supervisors in the future,” said Bruce Blodgett, SJFB executive director. “It has been brought before them twice already. And it will be revisited again next year.”


Williamson Act keeps ag viable
Blodgett pointed out that the act has saved landowners $8 million, an amount that continues to grow. “The money saved under Williamson Act contracts allows members to expand, maintain and operate their farms and keep agriculture viable in the county.”

The Williamson Act is the foremost land conservation program in California but it is, said Blodgett, “Easy to lose sight of this when the economy declines and ag land development pressure has decreased. We cannot allow agriculture, perhaps the sole bright spot in this economy, to be a quick fix solution to a sustainable county budget.”


What might have been
Under the rejected legislation, a 10-year contract could have been reduced to nine years and a 20-year contract reduced to 18 years.

According to Farm Team San Joaquin, approving AB 1265 would have brought $1.9 million into the county’s general fund by effectively raising property taxes for landowners under Williamson Act contracts.

If AB 1265 had been approved, 6,681 parcels on more than 538,000 acres would have been affected with 89 percent paying an increase in their property taxes of $1 to $500, 10 percent would have paid $501 to $1,500 and 1 percent would have paid $1,500 to $5,000.

Blodgett said that without the Williamson Act “there will be more foreclosures in agriculture with rangeland operations in particular being severely affected.”

He also said 82 percent of property taxes paid in San Joaquin County are retained by the state, the funds used to run state programs.


Farmers speak out
Farmers attending and certainly the 12 who spoke to the board agreed, including Paul Sanguinetti, who said, “Once we get this sort of thing, it never comes off” and county officials need to explain how the increased tax dollars extracted from farmers would be used.

Their theme was that the additional tax added to the financial burden already plaguing farmers and it could kill jobs and even drive some growers out of business.

“Fuel and feed costs are up significantly for everyone in agriculture,” explained Blodgett. “The dairy industry in particular is still climbing back from the horrible prices of past years. They’ll probably never replace the equity they’ve lost.”


County needs more revenue
County Administrator Manuel Lopez insisted that eliminating the Williamson Act would have provided additional revenue for law enforcement and social service programs offered by the county.


Farm Bureau thanks farmers
Kory Campbell, SJFB program director, called the decision “a great victory in preserving the integrity of the Williamson Act, as well as helping to preserve ag land in our county.”

She also thanked the approximately 100 growers who attended the meeting and those who gave comments to the board. “Your action on this matter really did make a difference and we urge you to personally thank your supervisor for preserving the Williamson Act in our county.”

Despite the relief from AB 1265 the supervisor’s vote created, the statewide financial malaise is unlikely to be resolved soon and, said Bestolarides, more cutbacks and belt tightening is needed.

Farmers appreciate the dismal financial condition of the state created by legislators but grower’s financial belts are almost at the last notch where belt tightening and cut backs become impossible.