Calaveras County Hit Hard with Recent Federal Changes and State Bills

The recent financial burdens to Calaveras County residents began with the redrawing of the FEMA flood zone maps, in which a large portion of Calaveras County residents who have “one inch of standing water for one day within 100 years” on their property find themselves now placed in a FEMA drafted flood zone map, which requires flood insurance from…FEMA.

Recently the Governor signed ABX1 29, the State Responsibility Fire prevention Fee, which would require the Board of Equalization to collect $150 per home for fire prevention fees to help offset the cost of operating the Department of Forestry and CAL FIRE. These fees are to be collected in SRA (State Responsibility Area) areas only.  The State Responsibility Area (SRA) within Calaveras County is 623, 621 acres. That is equal to 94.20% of the county. The town of San Andreas and the City of Angels Camp fall within the category of Local Responsibility Areas (LRA). 94.20% of Calaveras County property owners will be required to pay $150 per year as a fire prevention fee.



On Tuesday the Governor signed a trailer to AB 1265, the Williamson Act bill, which originally was a law that provided property tax relief to owners of farmland and open space land in exchange for a ten-year agreement that the land would not be developed or otherwise converted to another use. According to sources within the county offices, the state has not honored the subvention (reimbursement for lost revenue due to the Williamson Act) since the 2007/2008 fiscal year (Governor Schwarzenegger eliminated subvention). The newly signed AB 1265 bill trailer authorizes a county, in any fiscal year in which payments authorized for reimbursement to a county for lost revenue are less than12% of the participating county’s actual foregone general fund property tax revenue, to revise the term for newly renewed and new contracts and require the assessor to value the property, as specified, based on the revised contract term. The bill would provide that a landowner may choose to nonrenew and begin the cancellation process. The bill would also provide that any increased revenues generated by properties under a new contract shall be paid to the county.

According to Leslie Davis, Calaveras County Assessor, there are 1,161 parcels in Williamson Act, with 239 contracts.  They total approximately 141,000 acres. When asked the possibility of the county realizing increased revenue from this bill Leslie Davis responded, “The county could bill about $96,745 if they chose to implement the provisions of SB863* as it was eventually signed by the Governor.  Calaveras County did not take action to implement that law for this fiscal year.  So, the accurate answer to your question is that the county cannot anticipate receiving any revenues due to the bill signed by Governor Brown this week.”

*SB 863, signed on October 19, 2010, provides an opportunity for Counties to offset a portion of the loss of Williamson Act Subvention funds by reducing the term of the Williamson Act contracts from ten years to nine years as of January 1, 2011.