Workshop next week to address ag tax

County PRMD hosting public meeting May 10
A public workshop is scheduled next Friday (May 10) to help Sonoma County agricultural and open space landowners understand how to comply with the Williamson Act, the state law that gives tax breaks to agricultural property owners.
The county workshop is intended to help owners with “substandard parcels” that don’t meet Williamson Act criteria for tax relief, said Traci Tesconi of the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department (PRMD).
“At the workshop planners will be available to work with landowners to determine what can be done to bring their parcels into compliance” with the Agricultural Preserve program, said Tesconi.
PRMD staff will explain the “status of your parcels, options available which include phase out, mergers and revisions or enhancements,” said Tesconi.
A Williamson Act contract requires the property be devoted to agricultural or open space use with a minimum legal parcel size to qualify for the tax benefit. For land planted in permanent crops, under what is known as a Type I contract, the minimum parcel size is 10 acres. For grazing land under what is known as a Type II contract the minimum parcel size is 40 acres.
A state Department of Conservation audit has revealed that many landowners in the program have parcels that don’t meet minimum parcel size criteria. In response to the state audit Sonoma County is now launching an effort to remove properties ineligible for the lower tax rate that can save property owners from 20 to 75 percent in annual property taxes.
In Sonoma County there are approximately 2,200 parcels under Williamson Act contract, said Tesconi. Of those, 199 have been “flagged for being undersized,” said Tesconi. “A lot of them were larger ranches that over time were divided.”
Approximately 16 million acres — about half of California’s farm and ranch land — are under Williamson Act contracts, according to the state Department of Conservation.
Initiating the non-renewal of contracts on parcels that no longer qualify requires the county to serve a Notice of Non-Renewal on the affected landowner. Once the Notice of Non-Renewal is served and recorded it will stop the automatic renewal of the contract. A contract that is ‘non-renewed’ will terminate at the end of its ten-year term. During the contract’s phase-out period, property taxes increase.
Landowners may file a written protest within 15 days of the date of service on the Notice of Nonrenewal. If a timely protest is filed, the tax benefit associated with the Williamson Act contract will be fully retained until there are less than six years remaining of the contract’s term.
Landowners may also be able to modify their parcel boundaries, merge parcels or revise the type of contract to meet the minimum parcel size requirements and remain in the program, said Tesconi.
Next week’s workshop is intended “to maximize the opportunity for landowners to remain in this worthwhile program,” said Tesconi.
“We want to ensure that we are properly using all local and state resources such as the Williamson Act to maximize support for local farmers,” said Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Rabbitt, in a media announcement of next week’s workshop.
“We all benefit from having a vibrant farming community,” said Rabbitt. “Supporting our farmers and agricultural community is a top county priority.”
The May 10 workshop will run from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department, 2550 Ventura Ave. Santa Rosa.