Recession Threatens Preservation Funds : Economy: How to finance an Agricultural Land Trust to buy cropland, or rights to it, will be discussed by an advisory committee. Fewer sources of money are available.

One year after a group of 11 Ventura County leaders began meeting to form a trust to preserve farmland, the group has hit a major obstacle: the recession.

The committee convened by Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee has drafted a list of options for an Agricultural Land Trust.

Under one scenario, the trust would buy land outright and lease it back to growers. Under another proposal, the trust would buy the rights only, in essence placing a lien against the property that would forever waive the landowner’s option to convert crop rows to shopping centers.

In 12 meetings, the committee has resolved several sticky issues, including a recent question over whether the trust should have the power to condemn land and take it against a property owner’s will. The committee decided to keep all land transactions voluntary, using condemnation only when a tax advantage would result for the owner.

But financing, which many say is the most crucial issue, has yet to be considered. On Wednesday, the committee is scheduled to discuss how, or whether, to fund the trust.

Among funding suggestions are a quarter-cent sales tax that could yield about $14 million per year or a $10 property tax that would bring in about $2.2 million per year. Another option uses developer fees, but would bring in only a few hundred thousand dollars a year, county planners estimate.

Raising taxes, which could only be implemented with a two-thirds vote, would bring the most stable and lucrative source of revenue, committee members say. But those options also are politically unpopular.

“I think people vote their pocketbooks,” said Erickson Kildee, who has pushed for a trust for five years. “That’s why, right now in this economy, I’m not ready to lead the charge to raise taxes.”

She said a tax measure might have been more palatable to voters if it had been brought up five years ago, before the county lost hundreds of defense and oil industry jobs and before the onset of the recession.

Erickson Kildee suggested the best course now is to form the trust so it could accept land or development rights through donations or wills. The organization could also apply for grants or raise funds, she said.

“If we had a vehicle to take a donation, then we would still be farther ahead than we are now,” she said.

The Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. would fight any effort to implement a new tax, Executive Director Jere Robings said.

“There is no question that the public enjoys the aesthetic value of agriculture land,” Robings said. “But even if the taxpayers end up paying for agriculture land, agriculture as an industry will only stay as long as it’s profitable.”

Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail agreed that factors in addition to land prices affect growers’ profits. But he said the county’s financial ability to protect farmland is key to the success of agriculture in the county.

“The long-term future of farming in the county depends on the formation of an agricultural land trust,” he said.

Farmland now disappears to urban uses at the rate of 1,500 acres per year on average. With fewer than 105,000 acres of irrigated land remaining in Ventura County, the point at which farming loses its viability as an industry rapidly approaches, he said.

Based on what happened in Orange County, McPhail estimated that once the number of irrigated acres drops below 70,000, pesticide operators, helicopter companies and tree trimmers will leave the county, cutting farmers off from essential services.

Through the trust, agriculture land that is attractive to developers could be purchased and leased back to farmers to continue growing the produce on which the county’s economy depends. Growers reported $853 million in gross sales in 1990.

But that scenario creates future problems of liability and management, said Gene Kjellberg, the county planner who advises the committee. In addition, he said, it would be more expensive to buy land outright than to buy development rights.

By purchasing development rights, the trust would compensate farmers for the market value of their land, removing the pressure to sell to developers who pay thousands of dollars more per acre than row crops could yield.

The assessor’s office estimates that irrigated farmland in Ventura County is worth $8,000 to $12,000 per acre when its value is based solely on crop production, Kjellberg said.

“Anything above that reflects the developmental value,” he said.

Because of the potential for development, the assessed value of agriculture land in the county ranges from $15,000 to $120,000 per acre.

The most valuable pockets are closest to developed areas in Ventura and on the Oxnard Plain. The least valuable are located in the northeast end of the county along the Santa Clara River Valley, Kjellberg said.

Robert Braitman, executive director of the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission, said a trust is a good step toward ensuring that the county’s agriculture industry remains viable.

“It takes away the speculative value of the land,” he said. “Once you do that, you have removed the engine that drives the train.”

A trust could also add muscle to greenbelt agreements, forcing cities not to develop beyond their spheres of influence.

“The question is: Do we want to permanently set aside prime agricultural resources and have them off the list for urban development?” he said. “If the answer is yes, then acquiring development rights is crucial.”

But Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said some county farmers are suspicious of the proposed trust and its potential power.

In addition, he said, the Farm Bureau does not want county residents to think that preserving land is all that has to be done to preserve the industry.

“Land is only part of the economic equation,” he said. “There is also the price and availability of water, labor costs, regulations, weather and our ability to compete in the international market.”

Possible Land Trust Scenarios

Buy development rights: Permit the organization to purchase the development rights to farm land, paying growers close to market value for their land.

Buy farm land: Permit the trust to purchase the land outright, and lease it back to farmers.

Buy open space: Allow it to purchase open space land as well, possibly creating hiking trails and parking lots at the trail heads.

Sales tax: Fund the trust with a quarter-cent sales tax, which would have to be approved by two-thirds of the voters.

Property tax: Fund the trust with a small annual property tax.

Per-acre fees: Fund the trust with a per-acre fee paid by developers who build on what once was farmland.

Donations: Depend solely on donations of cash or land.

Agricultural Land Market Values in Ventura County

The Ventura County assessor’s office estimates that irrigated farmland is worth $8,000 to $12,000 per acre. But the potential for developing the land for urban uses drives up the assessed value.

RANGE OF ASSESSED VALUE PER ACRE 1. Upper Ojai: $15,000-$40,000 2. West Oxnard Plain: $60,000-$110,000 3. Santa Clara River Valley: $12,000-$20,000 4. Las Posas Valley: $18,000-$28,000 5. Oxnard Plain: $30,000-$110,000 6. Moorpark area: $12,000-$17,000 Source: Ventura County