CA Rev & Tax Code Section 423

Except as provided in Sections 423.7 and 423.8, when valuing enforceably restricted open-space land, other than land used for the production of timber for commercial purposes, the county assessor shall not consider sales data on lands, whether or not enforceably restricted, but shall value these lands by the capitalization of income method in the following manner:

(a)

The annual income to be capitalized shall be determined as follows:

(1)

Where sufficient rental information is available the income shall be the fair rent which can be imputed to the land being valued based upon rent actually received for the land by the owner and upon typical rentals received in the area for similar land in similar use, where the owner pays the property tax. Any cash rent or its equivalent considered in determining the fair rent of the land shall be the amount for which comparable lands have been rented, determined by average rents paid to owners as evidenced by typical land leases in the area, giving recognition to the terms and conditions of the leases and the uses permitted within the leases and within the enforceable restrictions imposed.

(2)

Where sufficient rental information is not available, the income shall be that which the land being valued reasonably can be expected to yield under prudent management and subject to applicable provisions under which the land is enforceably restricted. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that “prudent management” does not include use of the land for a recreational use, as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 51201 of the Government Code, unless the land is actually devoted to that use.

(3)

Notwithstanding any other provision herein, if the parties to an instrument which enforceably restricts the land stipulate therein an amount which constitutes the minimum annual income per acre to be capitalized, then the income to be capitalized shall not be less than the amount so stipulated.

For the purposes of this section, income shall be determined in accordance with rules and regulations issued by the board and with this section and shall be the difference between revenue and expenditures. Revenue shall be the amount of money or money’s worth, including any cash rent or its equivalent, which the land can be expected to yield to an owner-operator annually on the average from any use of the land permitted under the terms by which the land is enforceably restricted, including, but not limited to, that from the production of salt and from typical crops grown in the area during a typical rotation period, as evidenced by historic cropping patterns and agricultural commodities grown. When the land is planted to fruit-bearing or nut-bearing trees, vines, bushes, or perennial plants, the revenue shall not be less than the land would be expected to yield to an owner-operator from other typical crops grown in the area during a typical rotation period, as evidenced by historic cropping patterns and agricultural commodities grown. Proceeds from the sale of the land being valued shall not be included in the revenue from the land.

Expenditures shall be any outlay or average annual allocation of money or money’s worth that has been charged against the revenue received during the period used in computing that revenue. Those expenditures to be charged against revenue shall be only those that are ordinary and necessary in the production and maintenance of the revenue for that period. Expenditures shall not include depletion charges, debt retirement, interest on funds invested in the land, interest on funds invested in trees and vines valued as land as provided by Section 429, property taxes, corporation income taxes, or corporation franchise taxes based on income. When the income used is from operating the land being valued or from operating comparable land, amounts shall be excluded from the income to provide a fair return on capital investment in operating assets other than the land, to amortize depreciable property, and to fairly compensate the owner-operator for his operating and managing services.

(b)

The capitalization rate to be used in valuing land pursuant to this article shall not be derived from sales data and shall be the sum of the following components:

(1)

An interest component, to be determined by the board and announced no later than October 1 of the year preceding the assessment year, which is the arithmetic mean, rounded to the nearest 14 percent, of the yield rate for long-term United States government bonds, as most recently published by the Federal Reserve Board as of September 1, and the corresponding yield rates for those bonds, as most recently published by the Federal Reserve Board as of each September 1 immediately prior to each of the four immediately preceding assessment years.

(2)

A risk component that shall be a percentage determined on the basis of the location and characteristics of the land, the crops to be grown thereon and the provisions of any lease or rental agreement to which the land is subject.

(3)

A component for property taxes that shall be a percentage equal to the estimated total tax rate applicable to the land for the assessment year times the assessment ratio. The estimated total tax rate shall be the cumulative rates used to compute the state’s reimbursement of local governments for revenues lost on account of homeowners’ property tax exemptions in the tax rate area in which the enforceably restricted land is situated.

(4)

A component for amortization of any investment in perennials over their estimated economic life when the total income from land and perennials other than timber exceeds the yield from other typical crops grown in the area.

(c)

The value of the land shall be the quotient for the income determined as provided in subdivision (a) divided by the capitalization rate determined as provided in subdivision (b).

(d)

Unless a party to an instrument which creates an enforceable restriction expressly prohibits such a valuation, the valuation resulting from the capitalization of income method described in this section shall not exceed the lesser of either the valuation that would have resulted by calculation under Section 110, or the valuation that would have resulted by calculation under Section 110.1, as though the property was not subject to an enforceable restriction in the base year.

In determining the 1975 base year value under Article XIIIA of the California Constitution for any parcel for comparison, the county may charge a contractholder a fee limited to the reasonable costs of the determination not to exceed twenty dollars ($20) per parcel.

(e)

If the parties to an instrument that creates an enforceable restriction expressly so provide therein, the assessor shall assess those improvements that contribute to the income of land in the manner provided herein. As used in this subdivision “improvements which contribute to the income of the land” shall include, but are not limited to, wells, pumps, pipelines, fences, and structures which are necessary or convenient to the use of the land within the enforceable restrictions imposed.