END OF WILLIAMSON AG CONTRACT NON-RENEWAL PROTEST PERIOD

For farm land owners of about 600 Williamson Act parcels who filed protest when Imperial County non-renewed all Williamson contacts, 2015 is a pivotal year. Your property assessment – and taxes - will increase substantially this year now that the 4-year protest period has ended.

It is a complex process that was triggered in 2010 when the Board of Supervisors voted to non-renewal all land under Williamson Act contract and end the tax reduction it had provided to the owners of about 1,200 parcels of agricultural land in Imperial County. State law calls for the assessments – and taxes - for the non-renewed Williamson Act parcels to ramp back up to their Proposition 13 factored base level during the 9-year contract run out period. Landowners of about half the Williamson Act parcels protested the non-renewal, which had the effect of continuing the calculation of the contracts as if they had not been non-renewed for the first 4-years of the 9 year run out period. Now that the protest period has ended, their assessments and taxes have increased to the level where they would have been, if no protest had been filed.

The Imperial County Assessor’s office has Agriculture property appraisers available to meet with landowners who have parcels coming off protest and who have questions about their assessments. You can call either 442-265-1316 or 442-265-1317 or email our office at: assessor@co.imperial.ca.us to schedule an appointment to review the data and calculations used to determine the assessments.