Bill Text: CA AB2351 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Williamson Act: cancellation: fees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-08-30 - Ordered to inactive file pursuant to Senate Rule 29. Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Dutton. [AB2351 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB2351-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2351 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gordon
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 51283 of the Government Code, relating to
local government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2351, as amended, Gordon. Williamson Act: cancellation: fees.
The Williamson Act authorizes a landowner to petition the board or
council of a city or county to cancel a contract entered into under
the act, and requires the landowner to pay a cancellation fee, as
specified. A board or council is authorized to grant tentative
approval of the cancellation after the county assessor of the county
in which the land is located has determined the current fair market
value of the land as though it were free of the contractual
restriction, and the board or council calculates the cancellation
fee. Existing law sets the cancellation fee at 12.5% of the
cancellation value of the property.
This bill would require a landowner that has petitioned the board
or council of a city or county to cancel a contract to pay
____ 5 % of the total cancellation fee within 30
days of the board's or council's decision to grant tentative
approval of the cancellation. The bill would require the payment
to be applied toward the total cancellation fee, as specified. The
bill would require the payment to be returned to the landowner if the
contract is not canceled.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 51283 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
51283. (a) Before any action by the board or council giving
tentative approval to the cancellation of any contract, the county
assessor of the county in which the land is located shall determine
the current fair market value of the land as though it were free of
the contractual restriction. The assessor shall certify to the board
or council the cancellation valuation of the land for the purpose of
determining the cancellation fee. At the same time, the assessor
shall send a notice to the landowner and the Department of
Conservation indicating the current fair market value of the land as
though it were free of the contractual restriction and advise the
parties, that upon their request, the assessor shall provide all
information relevant to the valuation, excluding third-party
information. If any information is confidential or otherwise
protected from release, the department and the landowner shall hold
it as confidential and return or destroy any protected information
upon termination of all actions relating to valuation or cancellation
of the contract on the property. The notice shall also advise the
landowner and the department of the opportunity to request formal
review from the assessor.
(b) (1) Before giving tentative approval to the cancellation of
any contract, the board or council shall determine and certify to the
county auditor the amount of the cancellation fee that the landowner
shall pay the county treasurer upon cancellation. That fee shall be
an amount equal to 121/2 percent of the cancellation valuation of the
property.
(2) The landowner shall pay ____ 5
percent of the total cancellation fee calculated pursuant to
paragraph (1) within 30 days of the board's or council's decision to
grant tentative approval of the cancellation of the contract.
(A) Upon the cancellation of a contract, the payment shall be
applied toward the total cancellation fee calculated pursuant to
paragraph (1).
(B) Upon notification that the cancellation of a contract will not
be completed, the payment shall be returned to the landowner.
(c) If it finds that it is in the public interest to do so, the
board or council may waive any payment or any portion of a payment by
the landowner, or may extend the time for making the payment or a
portion of the payment contingent upon the future use made of the
land and its economic return to the landowner for a period of time
not to exceed the unexpired period of the contract, had it not been
canceled, if all of the following occur:
(1) The cancellation is caused by an involuntary transfer or
change in the use which may be made of the land and the land is not
immediately suitable, nor will be immediately used, for a purpose
which produces a greater economic return to the owner.
(2) The board or council has determined that it is in the best
interests of the program to conserve agricultural land use that the
payment be either deferred or is not required.
(3) The waiver or extension of time is approved by the Secretary
of the Natural Resources Agency. The secretary shall approve a waiver
or extension of time if the secretary finds that the granting of the
waiver or extension of time by the board or council is consistent
with the policies of this chapter and that the board or council
complied with this article. In evaluating a request for a waiver or
extension of time, the secretary shall review the findings of the
board or council, the evidence in the record of the board or council,
and any other evidence the secretary may receive concerning the
cancellation, waiver, or extension of time.
(d) The first two million five hundred thirty-six thousand dollars
($2,536,000) of revenue paid to the Controller pursuant to
subdivision (e) in the 2004-05 fiscal year, and any other amount as
approved in the final Budget Act for each fiscal year thereafter,
shall be deposited in the Soil Conservation Fund, which is continued
in existence. The money in the fund is available, when appropriated
by the Legislature, for the support of all of the following:
(1) The cost of the farmlands mapping and monitoring program of
the Department of Conservation pursuant to Section 65570.
(2) The soil conservation program identified in Section 614 of the
Public Resources Code.
(3) Program support costs of this chapter as administered by the
Department of Conservation.
(4) Program support costs incurred by the Department of
Conservation in administering the open-space subvention program
(Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 16140) of Part 1 of Division 4 of
Title 2).
(5) The costs to the Department of Conservation for administering
Section 51250.
(e) When cancellation fees required by this section are collected,
they shall be transmitted by the county treasurer to the Controller
and deposited in the General Fund, except as provided in subdivision
(d) of this section and subdivision (b) of Section 51203. The funds
collected by the county treasurer with respect to each cancellation
of a contract shall be transmitted to the Controller within 30 days
of the execution of a certificate of cancellation of contract by the
board or council, as specified in subdivision (b) of Section 51283.4.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that fees paid to cancel a
contract do not constitute taxes but are payments that, when made,
provide a private benefit that tends to increase the value of the
property.
