BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 551
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 551 (Ting)
As Amended September 3, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |75-0 |(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: AGRI.
SUMMARY : Allows a county or a city and county (county) to
establish by ordinance an Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone
(UAIZ) for the purpose of supporting urban agriculture.
The Senate amendments :
1)Define urban to mean an area within the bounds of an urbanized
zone, as defined by the United States Census Bureau.
2)Define Agriculture use to mean farming in all of it branches,
as specified.
3)Allow a county that establishes a UAIZ to establish
regulations for implementing and administering the UAIZ and
related UAIZ contacts, including assessing a fee to cover the
cost of the UAIZ program and cancelation fees for exiting a
contract early.
4)Allow a city to create a UAIZ, with approval from the board of
supervisors.
5)Prohibit UAIZ to overlap with Williamson Act contracted land.
6)Require notification to landowners that canceling a UAIZ
contract may cause cancelation fees to be imposed.
7)Add a sunset date of January 1, 2019, on the authority to
approve new UAIZ contracts.
8)Make technical and conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW :
AB 551
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1)Authorizes cities and counties 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.
2)Requires a county assessor to consider, when valuing real
property for property taxation purposes, the effect of any
enforceable restrictions upon the property. These
restrictions include, but are not limited to, zoning,
contracts with governmental agencies, and various other
restrictions imposed by governments.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the loss of revenue to the General Fund could
potentially be millions of dollars per year, due to lower
property tax revenues. There are also likely minor costs to the
Board of Equalization due to an annual report required by this
bill.
COMMENTS : According to the author, many properties in urban
areas lie undeveloped for many years due to 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.
The author states that by allowing a county to enter 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 owned 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.
Supporters state that the opt-in approach taken by this bill
offers a conservative way to help expand urban agriculture
across the state. This bill will act as another tool in the box
for counties who are looking to create open space and small
scale economic opportunities in their jurisdiction.
Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916)
319-2084
AB 551
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FN: 0002116