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Williamson Act Reform
in Santa Clara County —
Opportunity and Dangers
by Brian Schmidt
photo Cait Hutnik |
The Williamson Act is a valuable law, but it has been abused by some Santa Clara County landowners. In 1965, the State Legislature enacted the California Land Conservation Act (aka the Williamson Act) as a way to protect agricultural lands from urbanization. Under the Act, a landowner can voluntarily agree to retain lands in agriculture or other open space use for ten years or more. In exchange, the landowner receives a significant reduction in property taxes on the property.
These contracts are renewed automatically unless the landowner gives a ten-year notice of non-renewal, at which point the property taxes gradually increase until they reach full value. Landowners can also under certain circumstances cancel Williamson Act contracts, but this comes with a hefty penalty. More than 40% of the land in Santa Clara County (some 362,000 acres) is under Williamson Act contract.
County enforcement lacked teeth
Unfortunately, the County has not done a good job of enforcing these contracts, and abuse has resulted. Some of the worst abuse may even be criminal. Committee for Green Foothills has recommended that prosecutors investigate whether the illegally-built private golf course in Morgan Hill violated tax fraud statutes by taking tax breaks intended for farmers. In addition, the County has allowed development and subdivisions on Williamson properties, leading to direct and indirect harm to local farming and ranching. These landowners are not upholding their end of the bargain to keep these lands in agricultural use — while enjoying their tax breaks.
County moves to fix the problem
At the urging of the state, Santa Clara County is finally fixing the problem by stopping parcels that are no longer in agriculture from using this tax break. For the most part, we believe that the County has done a good job in trying to make the Williamson Act apply to real farming and ranching.
Developers propose loophole
Developers argue that because the County did not enforce the Act's provisions in the past, it should never enforce them. In addition, developers support a loophole that allows them to transfer property currently under Williamson Act contract into a temporary Open Space Easement — which, for some properties, facilitates development and further threatens our agricultural heritage.
Proposed restrictions on Open Space Easements
The process suggested for allowing properties to transfer to Open Space Easements raises real concerns, however. The Williamson Act places strong restrictions on development, but this transfer process has been used to appease highly vocal landowners and real estate developers who want to build and sell their properties as soon as possible. CGF insists that the Open Space Easements provide actual restrictions, not meaningless limits on paper that only stop people from doing things they had no interest in doing.
Assessing whether these Open Space Easements have real monetary value would be a good first step in determining whether they are meaningful. CGF has called on the County to add this precautionary step, but County staff has resisted it. Ultimately the County Supervisors will have to decide what happens, which will likely occur in early spring this year.
Note: CGF Legislative Advocate Brian Schmidt has been the primary environmental representative on the Stakeholder Committee advising the County on its changes.
Published April 2006 in Green Footnotes.
Page last updated September 13, 2010.
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