BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2351|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2351
Author: Gordon (D)
Amended: 4/16/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 5-3, 6/13/12
AYES: Wolk, DeSaulnier, Hernandez, Kehoe, Liu
NOES: Dutton, Fuller, La Malfa
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-24, 5/17/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Williamson Act: cancellation fees
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires a landowner seeking to cancel
a Williamson Act (Act) contract to pay a refundable 5%
cancellation fee.
ANALYSIS : In 1965, the Legislature passed the California
Land Conservation Act, also known as the Williamson Act, to
preserve agricultural and open-space lands. Under the Act,
landowners can sign contracts with counties, agreeing to
restrict the use of their property to agriculture, open
space, or compatible uses for the next 10 years. These
contracts automatically renew each year so that the
termination date is always a decade away. In return for
the landowner's agreement to not develop the land, county
CONTINUED
AB 2351
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officials must assess the property based on its use, not
its market value. The use-value assessment method lowers
the landowner's property tax bills.
County officials can cancel an Act contract at the
landowner's request, immediately ending the contract and
allowing the landowner to use the property for another
specified use. To cancel a contract, the county
supervisors must find that the cancellation is either
consistent with the Act's purposes or in the public
interest. The landowner must pay a cancellation fee equal
to 12.5% of the property's nonrestricted value upon
completing the cancellation. The revenues go to the State
General Fund, not to the county.
Last year, the Legislature allowed landowners and local
officials to rescind an Act contract to enter into
easements that allow photovoltaic solar facilities on
marginally productive or physically impaired lands (SB 618
(Wolk), Chapter 596, Statutes of 2011).
This bill requires an Act landowner to pay 5% of the total
cancellation fee within 30 days of the board or council's
decision to grant tentative approval of the cancellation of
the contract.
This bill provides that upon the cancellation of the
contract, the payment must be applied towards the total
cancellation fee.
This bill requires that the payment must be returned to the
landowners upon notification that the cancellation of a
contract will not be completed.
Comments
According to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee,
by requiring a refundable 5% deposit of the total estimated
cancellation fee, this bill deters non-serious landowners
from issuing multiple tentative cancellation requests.
Forcing landowners to tender possible thousands of dollars
to the county, which won't be available for use until the
cancellation process is resolved, will reduce the number of
tentative cancellations, and therefore, unreimbursed work.
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This bill provides no added financial risk to the landowner
and does not interfere with projects that are expected to
meet cancellation criteria and are likely to proceed to
cancellation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-24, 5/17/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Ma,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski,
Williams, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen, Silva, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fletcher, Gorell, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Norby, Perea, Skinner, Yamada
AGB:k 6/26/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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