10/03/2008: "Rush To Keep Tax Break For Ag Land"

The County Council may use a desire to extend a tax break to the owners of agricultural land not being farmed, as one of the excuses to pass an ordinance to allow changes to land use regulations more frequently than once a year.

Current regulations will not allow deferred taxes on agricultural land if land is not being farmed, but adopting a program allowed by state law will allow deferred taxes if the owner agrees to conserve land as “farm and agricultural conservation land.”

Some problems: (1), the county has not following state law by requiring proof of farming of the land that is receiving a county property tax break; (2) the tax break results in the rest of county land owners picking up the difference, that is, the agricultural land is being subsidized; (3) the county could, but currently does not, allow a tax break for land not farmed if it is in a “farm and agricultural conservation land” program; and (4) the county would need to change the Uniform Development Code (UDC) to offer a “conservation land” program; but under county law this can only be done once a year.

UDC changes only once a year? Where have we heard that before? The County Council will hold a public hearing today -Tuesday (9-6-08)- to take testimony on allowing Community Development and Planning to make changes more frequently than once a year.

This brings up the last, and the biggest problem; and some accompanying questions as well. Those who oppose the proposal to allow CD&P to make changes at will, also want to preserve open space and agricultural land in San Juan County, but suddenly a problem that has existed for years has been put forth as a reason alone to give CD&P a free hand to change and shift regulations in a way the County has rejected since the beginning of the Comprehensive Plan (CP)and the related UDC regulations that enforce the CP.

It is not often that the Left, Middle, and Right proponents of land use regulations agreed on very much of anything, but there has been widespread agreement that once a year changes to land use regulations is insurance that full participation, education and knowledge of the issues and potential ramifications of code changes will be known prior to a County Council vote on the changes.

When is the last time that anyone read that Stephanie Buffum-Field testified to the Planning Commission that “it is good to see all of the changes on an annual basis, categorizing them, and really thinking things through;” followed by a letter from John Evans (a SJC County Commissioner for 12 years) to the County Council that “the needs and expectations of the citizens of our county for clear predictable rules should outweigh the Directors apparent need to change rules to fit his particular situation.”.

But what about those land owners who are not farming their land, but are being subsidized by the rest of us? SJC Assessor Charles Zalmanek told the Council that he is not attempting to shut them down, but is working with them and other county groups to find those who are looking for land to farm, and getting them together.

In the meantime the County can move through the process of adopting new language that will allow a conservation land program that will allow a farm and agricultural conservation land program to protect farm land from development, by offering a tax break to those who do not develop the land.

As for the sudden need to move quickly, Councilman Bob Myhr said he believes it may be possible to make changes to implement the new conservation program without having to change the UDC.

But in any case, even if it is necessary to wait a year to make changes to the UDC, the land in question will still be there, since any request to change a land designation -or do a short or long plat- will take longer than a year, so by then the County can make any changes to the UDC it needs to make, to continue to protect agricultural land in San Juan County -a goal most of us support.