In its recent report titled
“The Williamson Act: What is it?,” the Mendocino County Grand Jury finds that
the county has not mailed out the reporting statements required to be filled
out every two years by owners of agricultural land who qualify for reduced tax
levies under the Williamson Act.
According to the grand jury,
out of a total of 4,481,920 acres in Mendocino County, 465,181 are included in
662 Williamson Act contracts as of December, 2014.
For fiscal year 2014-15, the
Grand Jury reports that the discount meant a reduction in more than $1.3
million of “collectable real property taxes,” according to the county assessor.
According to county code, each
landowner with a Williamson Act contract (which can provide a property tax
discount of between 10 to 95 percent) is required to file a Reporting Statement
to Maintain Agricultural Preserve Eligibility every two years, and that the
agricultural commissioner sends out the statements out via registered mail.
However, the grand jury found
that the last time the county mailed the reporting statements was in 2009. As a
result of that mailing in 2009, more than “50,000 acres were removed from the
contracts authorized by the Williamson Act,” meaning more taxes would be paid
on the land.
Since the statement to
“Maintain Agricultural Preserve Eligibility” has not been sent out in six
years, the grand jury “believes there is a substantial possibility that a large
number of parcels which would have been removed are still in the Williamson
Act,” meaning the county may be not be receiving tax revenue it is entitled to.
The grand jury recommends that
the county’s agricultural commissioner “send the Reporting Statement, by
registered mail, every two years as mandated by county code.”
In a recent act by the
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, the time period for the contract
discount was lowered from 10 to nine years, resulting in a savings of
approximately $450,000 for the county in fiscal year 2014-15.
Last year, the county’s
Resource Land Committee started writing “policies and procedures to replace the
current ordinance,” and it will be taking the proposed changes to the
communities of Potter Valley, Round Valley, Willits, Point Arena, Hopland, Fort
Bragg and Boonville “to inform the public and receive feedback.”
In order to send out the new
reporting statements, the new policies and procedures must be approved by the
Board of Supervisors prior to Sept. 1.
May
5, 2015
Ukiah
Daily Journal
By
Ukiah Daily Journal Staff
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