BILL NUMBER: AB 2530	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 8, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nielsen

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2010

   An act to amend Section  51283   51239 
of the Government Code, relating to local government.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2530, as amended, Nielsen. Local government: Williamson Act:
 cancellation fees.   agricultural preserves:
advisory board.  
   Existing law, the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to
enter into contracts to establish agricultural preserves. Existing
law also authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to
appoint an advisory board to advise the board on agricultural
preserve matters.  
   This bill would specify matters on which the advisory board may
advise the legislative body of a county or city. This bill would also
state that the advisory board is not the exclusive mechanism through
which the legislative body can receive advice on or address matters
regarding agricultural preserves.  
   Existing law, the Williamson Act, requires the county treasurer to
transmit any fees received in the county treasury as a result of a
contract cancellation to the Controller and requires those funds to
be deposited in the General Fund, as specified. Existing law
continuously appropriates to the Controller from the General Fund a
sum sufficient to make subvention payments for open-space lands,
including land affected by a contract pursuant to the Williamson Act,
to affected local governments.  
   This bill would direct the Legislature to dedicate fees collected
for Williamson Act contract cancellations and transmitted by the
county treasurer to the Controller, and deposited in the General
Fund, for allocation to the continuous appropriation for subvention
payments for open-space lands. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes
  no  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 51239 of the  
Government Code   is amended to read: 
   51239.  The board or council may appoint an advisory board, the
members of which shall serve at the pleasure of the board or council
and may be paid their expenses.  They   The
advisory board  shall advise the board or council on the
administration of the agricultural preserves in the county or city
and on any matters relating to contracts entered into pursuant to
this  chapter.   chapter, including, but not
limited to, program benefits, costs, amendments, and landowner
participation. This section shall not be   construed to be
the exclusive manner in which the board or council may address
agricultural preserve matters or receive advice regarding
agricultural preserve matters.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 51283 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
   51283.  (a) Prior to any action by the board or council giving
tentative approval to the cancellation of any contract, the county
assessor of the county in which the land is located shall determine
the current fair market value of the land as though it were free of
the contractual restriction. The assessor shall certify to the board
or council the cancellation valuation of the land for the purpose of
determining the cancellation fee. At the same time, the assessor
shall send a notice to the landowner and the Department of
Conservation indicating the current fair market value of the land as
though it were free of the contractual restriction and advise the
parties, that upon their request, the assessor shall provide all
information relevant to the valuation, excluding third-party
information. If any information is confidential or otherwise
protected from release, the department and the landowner shall hold
it as confidential and return or destroy any protected information
upon termination of all actions relating to valuation or cancellation
of the contract on the property. The notice shall also advise the
landowner and the department of the opportunity to request formal
review from the assessor.
   (b) Prior to giving tentative approval to the cancellation of any
contract, the board or council shall determine and certify to the
county auditor the amount of the cancellation fee that the landowner
shall pay the county treasurer upon cancellation. That fee shall be
an amount equal to 121/2 percent of the cancellation valuation of the
property.
   (c) If it finds that it is in the public interest to do so, the
board or council may waive any payment or any portion of a payment by
the landowner, or may extend the time for making the payment or a
portion of the payment contingent upon the future use made of the
land and its economic return to the landowner for a period of time
not to exceed the unexpired period of the contract, had it not been
canceled, if all of the following occur:
   (1) The cancellation is caused by an involuntary transfer or
change in the use which may be made of the land and the land is not
immediately suitable, nor will be immediately used, for a purpose
which produces a greater economic return to the owner.
   (2) The board or council has determined that it is in the best
interests of the program to conserve agricultural land use that the
payment be either deferred or is not required.
   (3) The waiver or extension of time is approved by the Secretary
of the Resources Agency. The secretary shall approve a waiver or
extension of time if the secretary finds that the granting of the
waiver or extension of time by the board or council is consistent
with the policies of this chapter and that the board or council
complied with this article. In evaluating a request for a waiver or
extension of time, the secretary shall review the findings of the
board or council, the evidence in the record of the board or council,
and any other evidence the secretary may receive concerning the
cancellation, waiver, or extension of time.
   (d) The first two million five hundred thirty-six thousand dollars
($2,536,000) of revenue paid to the Controller pursuant to
subdivision (e) in the 2004-05 fiscal year, and any other amount as
approved in the final Budget Act for each fiscal year thereafter,
shall be deposited in the Soil Conservation Fund, which is continued
in existence. The money in the fund is available, when appropriated
by the Legislature, for the support of all of the following:
   (1) The cost of the farmlands mapping and monitoring program of
the Department of Conservation pursuant to Section 65570.
   (2) The soil conservation program identified in Section 614 of the
Public Resources Code.
   (3) Program support costs of this chapter as administered by the
Department of Conservation.
   (4) Program support costs incurred by the Department of
Conservation in administering the open-space subvention program
(Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 16140) of Part 1 of Division 4 of
Title 2).
   (5) The costs to the Department of Conservation for administering
Section 51250.
   (e) When cancellation fees required by this section are collected,
they shall be transmitted by the county treasurer to the Controller
and deposited in the General Fund, for allocation pursuant to Chapter
3 (commencing with Section 16140) of Division 4 of Title 2, except
as provided in subdivision (d) of this section and subdivision (b) of
Section 51203. The funds collected by the county treasurer with
respect to each cancellation of a contract shall be transmitted to
the Controller within 30 days of the execution of a certificate of
cancellation of contract by the board or council, as specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 51283.4.
   (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that fees paid to cancel a
contract do not constitute taxes but are payments that, when made,
provide a private benefit that tends to increase the value of the
property.