(a) The Secretary of the Natural 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 Section 426 if it was previously assessed under Section 423.4, of the Revenue and Taxation Code:
(1) Five dollars ($5) for prime agricultural land, as defined in Section 51201.
(2) One dollar ($1) 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 Natural 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 section.
(e) Effective January 1, 2011, if the payment pursuant to this section for the previous fiscal year is less than one-half of the participating county’s actual foregone general fund property tax revenue, the county may make a determination to implement subdivision (b) of Section 51244 and Section 51244.3. The implementation of these sections shall be suspended for any subsequent fiscal year in which the payment for the previous fiscal year exceeds one-half of the foregone general fund property tax revenue.
For purposes of this subdivision, a county’s actual foregone property tax revenue shall be based on the county’s respective share of the general property tax dollars as reflected in the most recent annual report issued by the State Board of Equalization or 20 percent, whichever is higher.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 90, Sec. 1) by Stats. 2014, Ch. 322, Sec. 1. (SB 1353) Effective January 1, 2015.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018