Williamson Act Trailer Bill Signed
The Governor has signed SB 863 the budget trailer bill that
contains clean-up language to AB 2530 (Chapter 391, Statutes of
2010) and a $10 million appropriation for Williamson Act
subventions. The new law sets forth an alternative funding source
option that would shorten Williamson Act contracts to nine or 18
years, depending on the current term of the contract, in exchange
for the landowners forfeit of no more than 10 percent of their
tax benefit. It is scheduled to sunset in January 1, 2015.
As most know, chances of losing state funding for the
Williamson Act subventions for a second straight year was high.
Other options had to be considered. While the approach
specified in SB 863 may not be perfect it will provide some
counties with the incentive to stay in the program. Others will
have the option to begin non-renewals and some may chose to
continue to backfill the program. Because the bill is not
intended to be a “long-term” fix CSAC and RCRC will be looking
to their membership to determine “where we go from here…”
