BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 551
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 551 (Ting) - As Amended: April 29, 2013
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:7 - 0
Agriculture 7 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill allows a county to establish an Urban Agriculture
Incentive Zone (UAIZ) for the purpose of supporting urban
agriculture. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits a county from establishing a UAIZ within any portion
of a city or the city's spheres of influence, unless that city
has adopted an authorizing ordinance.
2)Requires UAIZ contracts to allow for structures that support
agricultural activities, including, but not limited to,
toolsheds, greenhouses, produce stands, and instructional
space.
3)Requires assessors to consider the enforceable restrictions
placed on an urban agriculture parcel when assessing the
property for property tax purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT
Restricting the allowable uses of land within urban areas to an
agricultural use is likely to reduce the assessed value of the
land and potentially the amount of property tax owners pay on
those parcels.
Property tax revenues are allocated to units of local government
according to existing law on the distribution of local property
tax. To the extent this bill reduces the revenues flowing to
school districts, there would be a corresponding cost to the
General Fund as the property tax would otherwise offset General
AB 551
Page 2
Fund obligations to schools, pursuant to the Proposition 98
minimum funding guarantee. The actual impact to the General
Fund is unknown because it will depend on the number of counties
adopting urban agriculture ordinances and the number of
properties entering into contracts limiting the use to urban
agriculture. The loss of revenue could be anywhere from several
hundred thousand dollars per year to millions of dollars.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, many properties in urban
areas lie undeveloped for many years for various reasons.
These properties can blight the surrounding neighborhood.
This bill seeks to create an incentive for the owners of these
properties to use their properties for urban agriculture in
order to create a green space and a local food source for the
community.
This bill allows a county to enter into a contract with the
landowner, in which the property must be used for urban
agriculture in return for a lower property tax rate.
Supporters state that by reducing the landowner's property tax
rate, property owners may be encouraged to convert the land to
an urban agricultural use. The reduced tax rate could serve
as an incentive to lease the land for urban agriculture rather
than leaving the property unused.
2)Background . Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating,
processing, and distributing food in or around a town or city.
Urban agriculture can take the form of community gardens,
where residents of a neighborhood cultivate individual plots
in a communal garden for individual consumption.
Alternatively, urban farms can be operated by one individual
or a group of individuals who produce agricultural products to
sell to consumers.
Proponents of urban agriculture note that this type of
agriculture increases the amount of food available to people
living in cities, and allows fresh vegetables, fruits, and
meat products to be made available to urban consumers. It has
the potential to decrease food deserts and food swamps.
Because urban agriculture promotes energy-saving local food
production, urban and peri-urban agriculture are generally
seen as sustainable agriculture.
AB 551
Page 3
3)Clarifying Amendment . As currently drafted, the bill may not
apply to the city and county of San Francisco since the bill
refers to counties only. The bill should be amended to
specifically state that it applies to both a county and a city
and county.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081