Article taken from the
Santa Barbara News Press
County eyes
Williamson Act expansion By
JENNIFER GOLLAN 4/9/03
Dude ranches, bed and breakfast inns, and even skeet-shooting ranges
might get the same big-property tax break that farmers get now for
keeping their land in open space.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors looked at a plan Tuesday that would expand the Williamson Act to include more than traditional farms and ranches, but also narrow the program to weed out "hobby farmers."
The plan combines efforts by the county to eliminate any abuse of the Williamson Act, along with some recent ideas from the Cattlemen's Association and the Wine Industry Task Force to broaden the program. The county started looking at the program last year, designating $121,000 of the Planning and Development Department's budget to review it. The move came well before Gov. Gray Davis targeted the program for cuts to help close the state's $35 billion budget deficit. The state maintains that some property owners who abuse the system don't deserve tax breaks. The governor wants to eliminate money dispersed to counties statewide -- $700,000 to Santa Barbara County -- that help offset the loss in taxes from the program. Some of the supervisors say they hope the state will back off from the cuts in light of the county's latest effort to cut down on "hobby farmers" and the like with the new rules. One of them would increase the minimum number of acres required to be eligible for the program. "Its intent has to be paramount to maintain agricultural viability," said 1st District Supervisor Naomi Schwartz. "We realize that we don't want to upset the balance by allowing something otherwise outside the rules."
Although the proposal would widen the scope of what is considered agriculture, some environmentalists told the board Tuesday that they believed it was necessary to make the contracts more selective to prevent the development of "McMansions."
"The (rule) updates should not allow mansionization or subdivisions," said David Fortson, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Action Network. Under the proposal, the county would regularly audit Williamson Act properties to ensure that they comply. More than 2,000 farmers in Santa Barbara County have contracts entitling them to the tax break under the act, which has been in place since 1965. With input from the Cattlemen's Association and the Wine Industry Task Force, county planning and development officials will work with the Agricultural Preserve Advisory Committee and other agricultural groups to evaluate and research the proposed changes to the program. Two public workshops are scheduled this summer. The final proposal will undergo environmental review before it is considered by the supervisors in spring 2004. The county has identified some general ideas that the plan addresses, but specific details haven't been worked out, according to Peggy Burbank, a county planner. The plan would raise the bar on eligibility by accepting only those property owners whose income from their commercial operation exceeds a certain level. Further, the rules would clarify the number and uses of residential units allowed under the contract. Horse breeding operations and some wine processing facilities would be excluded, along with churches, golf courses, sports complexes and race car courses. "We have to recognize that not all agricultural operations are equal," Mike Lunsford, president of the Gaviota Coast Conservancy, told the board. "If there has to be a sacrifice, there should be more regulations to bring the program within the means of the county."
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