BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1266
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  May 4, 2011

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
                                Cameron Smyth, Chair
                AB 1266 (Nielsen) - As Introduced:  February 18, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :  Local government: Williamson Act: agricultural 
          preserves: advisory board.

           SUMMARY  :  Specifies matters on which Williamson Act advisory 
          boards may advise the legislative body of a city or county.  
          Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Authorizes an advisory board, in addition to advising on the 
            administration of the agricultural preserves in the county or 
            city, to advise the city or county on any matters relating to 
            Williamson Act contracts, including, but not limited to, the 
            following:  

             a)   Program benefits;

             b)   Costs; 

             c)   Amendments; and,

             d)   Landowner participation. 

          2)States that the advisory board process is not the only means 
            by which a board of supervisors (board) or city council 
            (council) may address agricultural preserve matters or receive 
            advice regarding agricultural preserve matters. 
          
           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Pursuant to Article 13, section 8 of the California 
            Constitution, authorizes the Legislature to promote the 
            conservation, preservation and continued existence of open 
            space lands and provides that when these lands are enforceably 
            restricted to recreation, enjoyment of scenic beauty, use or 
            conservation of natural resources, or production of food or 
            fiber, they must be valued for property tax purposes only on a 
            basis that is consistent with these restrictions and uses.

          2)Creates the Williamson Act, also known as the California Land 
            Conservation Act of 1965, which authorizes cities and counties 








                                                                  AB 1266
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            to enter into agricultural land preservation contracts with 
            landowners who agree to restrict the use of their land for a 
            minimum of 10 years in exchange for lower assessed valuations 
            for property tax purposes.  The Division of Land Resource 
            Protection in the Department of Conservation administers the 
            Act.

          3)Authorizes a board or council to appoint an advisory board, 
            the members of which shall serve at the pleasure of the board 
            or council and may be paid their expenses.

          4)Requires the advisory board to 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 the Williamson Act.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None

           COMMENTS  :

          1)The Williamson Act conserves agricultural and open space land 
            by allowing private property owners to sign voluntary 
            contracts with counties and cities, enforceably restricting 
            their land to agriculture, open space, and compatible uses.  
            In return, county assessors must lower the assessed value of 
            the contracted lands to reflect their use as agriculture or 
            open space instead of the market value.  Making sure that 
            private property owners use their Williamson Act land 
            appropriately is essential to maintaining the statute's 
            constitutional integrity.

          2)According to the author's office, AB 1266 is intended to serve 
            as a road map for counties who opt to use the advisory 
            committees.  The advisory committees have been in the 
            Williamson Act since 1969 and a brief study in the 1990s found 
            approximately half of Williamson Act counties had some kind of 
            advisory committee.  According to the author, this bill is 
            intended to make counties more comfortable with using them as 
            a tool to help deal with current problems.  The bill spells 
            out certain issues that a Williamson Act advisory committee 
            might help a county address with its Williamson Act contract 
            holders, but is not limited to them.

          3)Support arguments:  Supporters state that the bill provides 
            illustrative examples of some of the subvention related 








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            problems that a local advisory committee could address.

            Opposition arguments:  Opposition could argue given the 
            substantial cuts to Williamson Act funding over the last few 
            years that beefing up the role of an advisory committee may be 
            too small of a step to truly impact the necessary changes that 
            will be needed at the local level to figure out the next steps 
            to Williamson Act contracts.  

          4)The bill is double-referred to the Committee on Agriculture.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Resource Landowners Coalition

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916) 
          319-3958