Farmland protection program turns into penny ante game

Orange County and the city of Camarillo will each receive one cent, Los Angeles County will waltz off with $1.14 and Fresno County will strike it not quite rich with $150.45. State payments for a once-flourishing farmland protection program are on the way — and the only good thing that some officials have to say about them is that at least they’re not IOUs.

Under the current, slimmed-down state budget, payments to local governments for participating in the plan known as the Williamson Act program have been slashed to $1,000, a sum that has been divvied up with angels-on-the-heads-of-a-pin precision to 47 participating cities and counties.

In recent years, the local governments were sharing as much as $38 million.

The cuts were announced last year, but the exact amounts of each locality’s take still jolted some officials when they were disclosed this week.

“Some counties are asking me whether they’d accidentally left off some zeros,” said Karen Keene, a lobbyist for the California State Assn. of Counties.

Ronnie Campbell, Camarillo’s finance director, said the city had not received any other payment as small as a penny — for anything, from anyone — in his three years on the job.

“I guess it could be worse,” he said.

Although a one-cent check could be a grand conversation piece, the booty will be sent electronically — along with a letter notifying recipients of the transfer. The cost to the state of distributing each payment will be 71 cents, according to Jacob Roper, a spokesman for the state controller’s office. Six of the payments are for amounts less than 71 cents.

A fixture in California land use since 1965, the Williamson Act offers landowners lower property taxes if they agree to long-term contracts barring development of their properties. To help make up for lost revenue, participating cities and counties are compensated each year by the state.

In urban areas, the recent funding cut might sting. In rural counties with vast swaths of farmland, it’s a body blow.

“It’s a very blatant slap in the face,” said Colusa County Supervisor Kim Dolbow Vann. “It’s the state saying, ‘Not only are we not going to support this great conservation program, we’re leaving you a penny for a tip.’ ”

Last year, her county north of Sacramento received $870,000 in Williamson Act funds. This year, it will take in $24.38.

The cuts have prompted some counties to discuss opting out of the program, a process that can take 10 years. Dropping out means that farmers will assume greater tax burdens and perhaps be under increased pressure to sell their land.

Meanwhile, local governments will have to make do, especially farming regions hard hit by the Williamson cuts.

“We’re standing around looking at each other trying to figure out how to provide basic services,” Vann said.

steve.chawkins@latimes.com