Farm Bureau releases positions on ballot measures Reiterating its strongoppositiontoabal- lot initiative thatwouldestablishasplit-roll property tax, the California FarmBureau Federation has announced positions on the other statewidemeasures to be decid- ed this fall. The CFBF Board of Directors released a Voter Guide for the Nov. 3 gen- eral election (see Page 2). assess and raise taxes on commercial and industrial property. Although its propo- nents claimagriculture would be exempt, themeasurewould allow reassessment of agricultural facilities and improvements suchasbarns, dairies, orchards, vineyards and processing plants. PresidentJamieJohanssonsaid.“Ultimately, thosehighercosts tothefoodsystemwould leadtohigher foodprices.Makenomistake: Ataxon farms is a taxoneveryone.” crimes remainchronic andgrowingprob- lems in rural California,” Johansson said. “By passing Proposition 20 and rejecting Proposition25, votershaveanopportunity to reinforceprotection for rural andurban communities alike.”
Among its other ballot positions, Farm Bureau emphasized public safety by sup- porting Proposition 20, which would in- crease penalties for certain theft-related crimes,andopposingProposition25,which wouldabolish the state’s cash-bail system. “Theft, vandalism, trespassingandother
CFBF recommended voters oppose Proposition 17, whichwould allow voting by people on parole for felony convic- tions; Proposition 18, which would allow 17-year-olds to vote in certain circum- stances; andProposition 21, whichwould allow cities and counties to impose resi- dential rent control inspecifiedsituations. FarmBureaurecommendeda“yes”vote on Proposition 22, which would repeal parts of a 2019 law, Assembly Bill 5, to re- classifydrivers for app-based ride services as independent contractors. TheCFBFboardremainedneutralonthe otherfivemeasures:Proposition14,stemcell researchbonds; Proposition16, affirmative action;Proposition19,whichaffectstaxeson homes and inheritedproperty; Proposition 23, involving kidney dialysis clinics; and Proposition24onconsumerprivacy. The full Voter Guidemay also be down- loadedfromtheCFBFwebsiteatwww.cfbf. com/voterguide. Tax deadline eased in fire areas The state controller’s office says it will allowhomeowners in counties affected by wildfiresextratimetofiletheir2020-21prop- erty taxes. Controller Betty Yee said last week her office had begun processing property tax deferment requests. State lawprovides tax relief tohomeown- erswhofileaclaimwiththeircountyassessor within12months of damageor destruction of property due tonatural disaster. Yee said this includes theability tohave theproperty reassessedinitscurrentstate,andtorebuild a like or similar structure and retain the pre-disasterpropertyvaluefortaxpurposes. Earlier, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order extending the property tax postponementfilingdeadlineforhomeown- ers incounties affectedbywildfire, to allow countiestimetoperformreassessmentsdue to fire losses. AlthoughthestandardPTPfilingdeadline isFeb.10,2021,homeowners incountieshit by wildfires will have until June 1, 2021, to apply.Thecontroller’sofficesaidfundingfor theprogramis limited,andapplicationswill beprocessed intheorder received. As of last week, the governor’s executive order extending the filingdeadline covered the counties of Butte, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, San Diego, SanMateo, Santa Clara, SantaCruz, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma,Stanislaus,Tehama,Trinity,Tulare, Tuolumne, YoloandYuba. Appl icat ions and addi t ional de- tails may be found at www.sco.ca.gov/ ardtax_prop_tax_postponement.htmlorby calling800-952-5661.
“Inthemiddleof apandemic thathas se- verely disrupted our food-production sys- tem,Proposition15wouldimposeanewtax burdenonfamilyfarmsandranches,”CFBF
FarmBureau was among the first orga- nizations toopposeProposition15, which would create a split-roll property tax to re-
Every dog has its day
Participate in our 2020 California Farm Bureau Farm Dog contest. With support from Nationwide, the winner will earn $1,000 in cash . Runners-up receive cash prizes, too.
Submit up to four photos and a brief essay about why your dog is an integral part of your farm or ranch operation.
Enter online at cfbf.com/farmdogcontest by Oct. 16th.
The contest is open only to Farm Bureau members. Applicants who are not Farm Bureau members can go to cfbf.com/join to learn about becoming a member.
12 Ag Alert October 7, 2020
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