If you are thinking about having retirement income or living in a rural setting, exploring California’s Williamson Act may be of value to you even though you are working in Silicon Valley. The intent of the program is to preserve agricultural lands by discouraging their premature and unnecessary conversion to urban uses.
The allowed uses for the Williamson Act property include growing agricultural products that may not immediately come to mind such as turf, Christmas trees, nursery trees, etc.
The Williamson Act enables California property owners to enter into a contract with local governments which lowers the property tax in exchange for not building houses or commercial buildings.
Quoting from the conservation.ca.gov website: ” Landowners receive substantially reduced property tax assessments in return for enrollment under a Williamson Act contract. Property tax assessments of Williamson Act contracted land are based upon generated income as opposed to the potential market value of the property.”
Williamson Act Contracts are formed between a county or city and a landowner for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use. Private land within locally-designated agricultural preserve areas is eligible for enrollment under a contract. The minimum term for contracts is ten years. However, since the contract term automatically renews on each anniversary date of the contract, the actual term is essentially indefinite “
How to terminate a Williamson Act Contract
From the sccgov.org website: “Under state law, the preferred method of the contract termination is nonrenewal. Williamson Act contracts are terminated by filing a notice of non-renewal with the Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. The landowner must give the County written notice of his/her desire not to renew the contract by October 1 (at least 90 days prior to the January 1 renewal date.) The contract will then terminate nine (9) years from the January 1 renewal date following the notice of non-renewal.”
Map of Williamson Act Properties in Santa Clara County
This interactive map of Williamson Act properties lets you display the location of various properties affected by the act. Click the layers icon in the upper right of the map and select from the types of properties.
Summary of California Property Taxes
Visit https://julianalee.com/reinfo/property-taxes.htm to explore other property tax programs