Sheila Hernandez, planner with the Community Development Agency, presented the annual implementation of Government Code section 51244(b) and asked the board to adopt a resolution to reduce Williamson Act contracts by 10% for the coming calendar year. The board opened the public hearing, received no public comment, and approved the resolution by roll call vote (4 in favor, 1 absent).

Hernandez explained that the California Land Conservation (Williamson) Act provides property tax relief to agricultural landowners who enter long-term contracts, and that AB 1265 (2011) amended Government Code section 51244 to permit jurisdictions to implement a 10% contract-term reduction to recapture a portion of foregone property tax revenue while allowing landowners to retain 90% of the reduced tax benefit. Staff estimated implementation costs of roughly $2,000 for required notices to landowners and said the action is categorically exempt from CEQA under Guideline section 15317 (Class 17).

The board closed the hearing with no written or oral correspondence and adopted the resolution to implement the reduction. Roll-call votes were recorded: Joe Neves—yes; Richard Vallee—yes; Doug Verboun—yes; Rusty Robinson—yes; Robert Thayer—absent.

The resolution directs staff to send the required notices to contract-holding landowners and to proceed with the implementation steps described in the CDA presentation.