A Fruitless Act
* Thanks for your article concerning the demise of agriculture in Orange County and the [orange] groves in particular (“An Unfruitful Effort to Save Part of the Past,” Oct. 8).
A I have pointed out “fruitlessly” many times, the “Williamson Act” is a joke on the public, both in terms of a tax break and agricultural preservation.
The reason is that it was not written to enable farmers and growers to maintain permanently their agribusinesses with the incentive that a tax break would give in perpetuity, as is done in other countries. The result was that developers could reap the advantages of not paying their fair tax share, except for one year, while they waited to exploit their lands with industrial, commercial and/or residential growth.
If nothing else, these taxes were lost in the need for the creation of more infrastructure. The result: the toll road, etc.
ANDY WING
Laguna Beach
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