Williamson Act cuts imperil farmers and farmland

From The Los Angeles Times:

Across the San Joaquin Valley, the richest agricultural region in the nation, the farmers who produce milk, grow crops and raise beef cattle are nervous about the popular Williamson Act program going belly up.

“We don’t want to see it go away because it gives us the ability to just be farmers and to be billed like farmers,” Davis said.

Tulare, Kern and other counties are facing tough decisions on how to save the program after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated $28 million last month for the Williamson Act, widely viewed as the state’s most significant land-management tool.

Created in 1965, the act allows counties to enter into rolling contracts with farmers and ranchers to keep agricultural land in production for at least 10 years. In return, counties value their lands in ways that reduce property taxes by up to 90%.

For 38 years, the state has contributed some of the annual property tax revenue that counties lose. Loss of those payments this year is spurring several counties to assess whether they can afford to stay in the program.

At stake are about 16.5 million acres — more than half of the state’s farmland — protected from development through Williamson Act contracts.

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