County of Kings v. Luther
The California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Gov. Code, 51200 et seq.), also known as the Williamson Act (hereafter Williamson Act), authorizes local governments to establish agricultural preserves, consisting of lands devoted to agricultural and other compatible uses. Once a preserve is established, the local government may enter into renewable contracts with owners of agricultural land to restrict the use of the land for at least 10 years, in exchange for favorable statutory property tax assessment standards. (Sierra Club v. City of Hayward (1981) 28 Cal.3d 840, 851-852 (Sierra Club), superseded on other grounds by statute as recognized by Friends of East Willits Valley v. County of Mendocino (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 191, 204-205.) As a result, however, the local government loses substantial property tax revenue. In 1971, the Open-Space Subvention Act ( 16140-16146) was enacted to provide replacement revenues to the local government lost by reason of the reduced property taxes assessed on property subject to a Williamson Act contract.
The County declined to pursue any administrative remedies and instead filed the instant petition for writ of mandate against the Department (Code Civ. Proc., 1085), to compel the Department to pay the withheld subvention funds. The trial court denied the petition and found the Department had jurisdiction to withhold subvention funds and the County was obliged to exhaust its administrative remedies to challenge the Departments action. Court affirm.
Comments on County of Kings v. Luther