May 23, 2007


The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Budget Item #9100-101-0001 (5) Subventions for Open Space – SUPPORT

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

On behalf of California’s local governments, conservation community and working landscape industry, we are writing to urge you to reconsider your 2007-08 May Revision State Budget proposal which would eliminate $39.1 million in Williamson Act subventions. Eliminating this critical agricultural incentive would result in irreversible adverse consequences at the local, state and national level.

Enacted in 1965, the Williamson Act is a voluntary program that provides lower property taxes to agricultural landowners in exchange for their contractual commitments with participating cities or counties to keep their land in agricultural or open space uses for at least 10 years. In 1971, state funding was provided which created a formula for allocating payments to local governments based on acreage enrolled in the program. Today, nearly one-third of all the privately owned land in the state is enrolled in a Williamson Act contract. Those 16 million acres constitute more than one-half of the state's 29 million acres of farm and ranchland.

For cities and counties, this financial support has provided a tangible incentive for local governments to stay in the program and initiate more contracts by partially replacing property tax revenues lost on enrolled land. If the subventions are not funded, there is no doubt that counties will be forced to discontinue their participation in the Act given local budgetary conditions.

For California, eliminating the subvention payments is the first step towards a total unraveling of the broadest based agricultural conservation program in the State. California is losing its working landscapes at an alarming rate while simultaneously faced with tremendous population pressure that further jeopardizes the economic viability of thousands of farming and ranching enterprises. Even with the Williamson Act, the Department of Conservation estimates over 397,000 acres of farmland were converted to other uses from 2000 to 2002.

Economically, the State stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs by eliminating the subventions. If just one percent of the Williamson Act’s 16 million acres of protected land converted to residential subdivisions at five dwelling units per acre, the state would be required to pay an additional $56M in Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief.

Finally, these protected farms and ranches are a critical component of America’s food supply. The Central Valley alone produces a quarter of the nation’s food with 350 different crops and commodities, including 11 grown exclusively in California. These subventions are essential to sustaining and maintaining a healthy and secure food supply that extends far beyond the state’s boundary.

The Williamson Act subvention program constitutes the state's contribution to farmland protection. Eliminating the subventions means eliminating working lands and literally paving the way for more leapfrog development and increased loss of our scenic open space and wildlife habitat. We know the Williamson Act has proven to be an effective tool for encouraging the preservation of existing farmland, and urge you to support this essential line item when the Legislature presents the 07-08 State Budget for your signature.

Sincerely,