OXNARD : Developer Gets Tax Break on Farmland

A developer hoping to turn strawberry fields into tract housing received a $107,000-a-year tax break from Ventura County this week, when a county panel agreed to tax the prime real estate at the same rate as farmland.

In a move that county officials fear could bring other developers forward demanding tax reductions, the county Assessment Appeals Board No. 1 slashed $10.7 million off the taxable value of 126 acres near Ormond Beach.

Oxnard Development Assn., which is planning a 3,500-home development on a site south of the Oxnard city limits, bought the three tracts in 1990 for prices ranging from $99,000 to $119,000 an acre.

The appeals panel, which includes county Supervisor John K. Flynn, agreed with the developer that the land--still covered with strawberries--should be valued at $30,000 an acre.

“Nobody pays $119,000 an acre for strawberry fields,” said a skeptical James Dodd, tax specialist for the county assessor’s office.

Dodd acknowledged that the recession has lowered property values, but argued that the land should still be worth $70,000 to $80,000 an acre. He cited similar prices in comparable land sales.

But the developer argued, and two of three panel members agreed, that the land should be taxed at agricultural levels until development is certain.

“None of these plans are certain, and in fact, one alternative presented was no development option,” Richard Shapiro, a representative for the developer, told the board. “In other words, a zoning change is unpredictable.”

Shapiro cited major hurdles, including an environmental impact review now under way, approval of annexation by Oxnard and “approval by an ever-changing City Council, with ever-changing political pressures and intentions.”

Flynn said he found the arguments convincing, particularly in light of two court cases requiring the assessor to prove that the land will be developed “in the predictable future.” “The assessor has a burden to carry,” Flynn said. “The assessor has to be able to predict within a reasonable time frame.”