2007 California Government Code Chapter 3. Open-space Subventions

CA Codes (gov:16140-16154)

16140.  There is hereby continuously appropriated to the Controller
from the General Fund a sum sufficient to make the payments required
by this chapter.
   The payments provided by this chapter shall be made only when the
value of each parcel of open-space land assessed under Sections 423,
423.3, 423.4, and 423.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is less than
the value that would have resulted if the valuation of the property
was made pursuant to Section 110.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code,
as though the property were not subject to an enforceable restriction
in the base year.



16141.  It is the purpose of this chapter to provide replacement
revenues to local government by reason of the reduction of the
property tax on open-space lands assessed under Sections 423, 423.3,
423.4, and 423.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.  Notwithstanding
any other provisions of this chapter, no subvention payments to a
county, city, city and county, or school district shall be made
pursuant to this chapter for land enforceably restricted pursuant to
the Open-Space Easement Act of 1974 (Chapter 6.6 (commencing with
Section 51070) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5).



16142.  (a) The Secretary of the Resources Agency shall direct the
Controller to pay annually out of the funds appropriated by Section
16140, to each eligible county, city, or city and county, the
following amounts for each acre of land within its regulatory
jurisdiction that is assessed pursuant to Section 423, 423.3, 423.4,
or 423.5, or 426 if it was previously assessed under Section 423.4,
of the Revenue and Taxation Code:
   (1) Five dollars () for prime agricultural land, as defined in
Section 51201.
   (2) One dollar () for all land, other than prime agricultural
land, which is devoted to open-space uses of statewide significance,
as defined in Section 16143.
   (b) The amount per acre in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) may be
increased by the Secretary of the Resources Agency to a figure which
would offset any savings due to a more restrictive determination by
the secretary as to what land is devoted to open-space use of
statewide significance.
   (c) The amount per acre in subdivision (a) shall only be paid for
10 years from the date that the land was first assessed pursuant to
Section 426 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, if it was previously
assessed under Section 423.4 of that code.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the 2008-09
fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, the Controller shall
reduce, by 10 percent, any payment made pursuant to this subdivision.



16142.1.  (a) In lieu of the payments made pursuant to Section
16142, in a county that has adopted farmland security zones pursuant
to Section 51296, the Secretary of the Resources Agency shall direct
the Controller to pay annually out of the funds appropriated by
Section 16140, to each eligible county, city, or city and county, the
following amount for each acre of land within its regulatory
jurisdiction that is assessed pursuant to Section 423.4 or 426 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code, if it was previously assessed under
Section 423.4 of that code:
   Eight dollars () for land that is within, or within three miles
of the boundaries of the sphere of influence of, each incorporated
city.
   (b) The amount per acre in subdivision (a) shall only be paid for
10 years from the date that the land was first assessed pursuant to
Section 426 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, if it was previously
assessed under Section 423.4 of that code. The appropriation
authorized by this subdivision shall not exceed one hundred thousand
dollars (0,000) per year until 2005.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the 2008-09
fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, the Controller shall
reduce, by 10 percent, any payments made pursuant to this
subdivision.



16142.5.  (a) For the fiscal year 1977-78, no payment to a city or
county shall increase or reduce the amount which would have been paid
to the city or county under the provisions of Section 16142 as it
existed on March 1, 1976, as applied to land assessed pursuant to
Section 423 or 423.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code for the fiscal
year 1977-78, in excess of an amount which is equal to the property
tax derived from a levy at the rate of three cents (.03) per
hundred dollars of assessed value.
   (b) For fiscal years subsequent to the 1977-78 fiscal year, no
payment to a city or county shall increase or reduce the amount which
was paid in the prior fiscal year in excess of an amount which is
equal to the property tax derived from a levy at the rate of three
cents (.03) per hundred dollars of assessed value for the fiscal
year, except as affected by an increase or a reduction in the acreage
assessed under Section 423, 423.3, or 423.5 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code.



16143.  Land shall be deemed to be devoted to open-space uses of
statewide significance if it:
   (a) Could be developed as prime agricultural land, or
   (b) Is open-space land as defined in Section 65560 which
constitutes a resource whose preservation is of more than local
importance for ecological, economic, educational, or other purposes.
The Secretary of the Resources Agency shall be the final judge of
whether the land is in fact devoted to open-space use of statewide
significance.



16144.  On or before October 31 each year, the governing body of
each county, city, or city and county shall report to the Secretary
of the Resources Agency the number of acres of land under its
regulatory jurisdiction which qualify for state payments pursuant to
the various categories enumerated in Section 16142, together with
supporting documentation as the secretary by regulation may require.
The secretary, after reviewing the report and determining the
eligibility of the local government to receive payment and the actual
amount to which it is entitled, shall certify that amount to the
Controller for payment, and the Controller shall make the payment on
or before June 30, but no earlier than April 20, of each year.
   The secretary may make supplemental reports to the Controller as
he or she deems necessary throughout the year to give effect to new
or additional information received from local governing bodies,
correct errors, and dispose of contested or conditional situations.
Upon receiving the reports, the Controller shall pay any amount
certified therein, and may withhold and deduct any certified
overpayment from the amount that would otherwise be paid to the local
government in the next succeeding year, including any cancellation
fees that have not been collected and transmitted pursuant to Section
51283.


16145.  Funds received by local governments pursuant to the
provisions of this chapter may be used for county, city, or city and
county purposes, as the case may be, or may, but need not
necessarily, be used for purposes of general interest and benefit to
the state.  The use of the funds shall include administration,
supervision, and enforcement of any open-space program under which a
local government receives the funds.  The funds may also include an
allocation of all or part of them to any special district or school
district existing within boundaries of a local government in which
land is assessed pursuant to Section 423, 423.3, or 423.5 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code, and which has thereby suffered a reduction
in its assessed valuation, when the local governing body determines:

   (a) That the loss of assessed value is substantial and will have
an adverse effect upon programs of public importance carried on by
the district.
   (b) The benefits flowing from the restrictions on the use of land
within the district do not accrue solely or primarily to landowners
or residents within the district.
   (c) That the taxes collected by the district are not devoted to
expenditures primarily of benefit to land or landowners within the
district.
   Any special district or school district may make application for
an allocation of the funds from the local government in the form and
with such supporting evidence as the governing board of the local
government may require.  The governing board may also adopt such
uniform standards as it believes necessary to determine the amount
and method of payment of such assistance, and may provide for such
payments to be reduced annually, according to a schedule, so as to
cease financial assistance over a specified period of years.
However, nothing herein shall be construed as requiring the governing
board of the local government to make any allocation to any special
district or school district, and the governing board of the local
government shall be the sole judge of the entitlement of any special
district or school district to any allocation and to the amount of
the allocation if granted.



16146.  The Secretary of the Resources Agency may determine, after
notice and hearing, that a local government is ineligible to receive
state payments pursuant to this article by reason of its failure to
comply with the provision of Article 10.5 (commencing with Section
65560) of Chapter 3 of Title 7, or with the provisions of any program
which establishes an enforceable restriction upon which the
assessment of land within its jurisdiction pursuant to Section 423,
423.3, 423.4, or 423.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is based.
The fact that a local government has not complied with the
requirements of Article 10.5 (commencing with Section 65560) of
Chapter 3 of Title 7 by the dates set forth in that article shall not
be reason to determine that the local government is ineligible to
receive state payments, if the local government has complied by July
1 of the year in which application is made.  This section shall not
be construed to require the disqualification of any land from
assessment pursuant to Section 423, 423.3, 423.4, or 423.5 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code as a consequence of any determination of
ineligibility by the secretary.



16147.  The Secretary of the Resources Agency may request the
Attorney General to bring any action in court necessary to enforce
any enforceable restriction as defined in Section 422 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code, upon land for which the secretary has certified
payment of state funds to the local governing body during the current
or any preceding fiscal year.  Such action may include, but is not
limited to, an action to enforce the contract by specific performance
or injunction.



16154.  In addition to the report required by Section 16144, the
Secretary of the Resources Agency shall require from local government
agencies such other information relative to lands valued pursuant to
Section 8 of Article XIII of the California Constitution as is
necessary for the proper administration of the provisions of Sections
16142 through 16153 and for periodic review of the policies
established therein.
   Information collected pursuant to this section shall be
transmitted on request to the Legislature and to other state
agencies, including, but not limited to, the State Board of
Equalization, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the
Department of Food and Agriculture.