The California Land Conservation Act of 1965--commonly referred to as the Williamson Act--enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use. In return, landowners receive property tax assessments which are much lower than normal because they are based upon farming and open space uses as opposed to full market value. Local governments receive an annual subvention of forgone property tax revenues from the state via the Open Space Subvention Act of 1971.

new and frequently requested information

Aoki Ranch

2009-2010 Budget Impacts Williamson Act Subventions

Suspension of Williamson Act subvention payments to local government is an unfortunate, but not unexpected, result of the state’s fiscal constraints. While subvention payments have been customary for many years, they have never been guaranteed. The Williamson Act contracts between landowners and local governments are important to the state’s agricultural production and remain in force, regardless of the availability of subvention payments. Landowners and local governments can non-renew Williamson Act contracts, but the Department doesn’t anticipate a mass exodus from the program. Once the economy rebounds, the Department is hopeful that subvention payments will be available again and the Williamson Act program will continue to have a significant, positive impact on California agriculture and land-use planning. 

• The Williamson Act Program is still in place (PDF)
• 2008 Williamson Act Status Report
• Frequently Asked Questions about Open Space Subventions 
• Effectively Administering the Williamson Act (9 MB PDF) 
In fall 2009, the Department provided regional training workshops to promote effective local government administration of the Williamson Act Program. The handout topics include the following:

Compatible Uses, Contract Termination, Current Fair Market Valuation & Formal Review Process, CEQA Mitigation Measures, Subdivisions, Lot Line Adjustments, Public Acquisition Notification Process, Eminent Domain, Recent Legislative Changes, Subvention Funds, Audits, Material Breach, Open Space Contracts on contracted lands.

 

Questions?

While the Department of Conservation staff are available to answer questions about the Williamson Act program and laws, initial inquiries are best directed to the planning department of the city or county that has jurisdiction over the land, and/or the county assessor's office.

The following are examples of questions that can be answered by local government staff:

• Question: I would like to know if a parcel is enrolled in a Williamson Act contract. Who do I contact? Where can I get a copy of the contract?
  
  Answer: To obtain information as to whether a Williamson Act contract exists on a parcel, if the assessor's parcel number, property address, or property owner information is known, staff at the county assessor's office will be able to search the assessor's database to provide the answer. The Department does not compile information on each Williamson Act contract throughout the state.

• Question: What can I use the contracted land for?
  
  Answer: Contact the planning department to obtain information on requirements for entering into a Williamson Act contract and the uses allowed. Local government uniform rules and the specific Williamson Act contract can be more restrictive than the Williamson Act Government Code provisions.

For further information, contact:

California Department of Conservation
Division of Land Resource Protection
801 K Street, MS 18-01
Sacramento, CA 95814-3528

Phone: (916) 324-0850
Fax: (916) 327-3430
Email: dlrp@conservation.ca.gov

Some files on this site are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) or compressed (ZIP) format. Utilities to read both are freely available on the Internet.  Spreadsheet information is formatted in Excel 2000 for Windows.