Wolk urges Governor to restore funding to preserve farm land, open space

Budget revision eliminates aid for protection of prime farmland from urban sprawl

SACRAMENTO– Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) today urged the Governor to restore funding for agricultural and open space preservation eliminated in his May Revision of the state budget, released yesterday.  The Governor’s budget proposal cut the $40 million Williamson Act program, which funds county-based property tax credits offered to landowners who agree to protect their land from development by keeping it in agricultural production. 

This is the second time since Wolk came to the Assembly in 2003 that a governor has proposed eliminating state support for the program.  In January of 2003 the Governor proposed cutting the Williamson Act to balance the budget.  Wolk led a bipartisan coalition of 35 Assembly Members who successfully fought to restore the funding.

“It was a bad idea then and an even worse idea today,” said Wolk.  “In the last four years nothing has changed except the loss of an estimated 350,000 more acres of agricultural lands to the pressures of development while local governments in rural counties suffer even greater strains to their budgets.”

“Eliminating this program would be a short-sighted, short-term budget fix that would result in unfortunate and irreversible consequences. The Williamson Act is a critical tool for rural and suburban communities struggling to manage growth while maintaining a strong agricultural economy. It is a national success story, and the most successful farmland conservation program in the history of California . I share the Governor’s desire to solve the state deficit. But cutting this program will only harm our rural economies while providing negligible benefit to the state budget.” 

Nearly 16.9 million of the state’s 29 million acres of farm and ranch land are currently protected under the Williamson Act, the state’s premier agricultural land protection program.  Yolo County , which received $1,295,688 in Williamson Act funds this year, currently has 417,240 acres enrolled in the program.  Solano County received $710,000 in Williamson Act funds.         

“As California ’s population continues to grow, so too is the pressure to develop our prime agricultural land, leading many to consider selling the family farm. I urge the Governor to restore this funding, helping local communities protect their land, as well as preserve a way of life,” Wolk concluded.