ACTIVITIES FROM THE PAST:
Date February 24, 2005
Contacts: Bert H. Brooks
Yolo County Taxpayers Call for End to Eminent Domain Proceedings
Yolo County fails to address taxpayer concerns
Woodland – The Yolo County Taxpayers Association (YCTA) board of directors voted to formally oppose Yolo County’s use of eminent domain to acquire the Conaway Ranch.After the Joint Powers Authority (JPA) failed to respond to public concerns at last month’s JPA meeting and cancelled this month’s meeting, the YCTA board felt compelled to act.
Moreover, the county’s response to YCTA’s letter did little to dispel public concerns that acquiring the ranch posed significant financial and legal risks to Yolo County taxpayers. “The county’s failure to respond to community concerns only increases public suspicions that its elected leaders are not disclosing the serious financial risks associated with acquiring Conaway Ranch,” said Dudley Holman, president of the Yolo County Taxpayer Association. “As advocates for Yolo County taxpayers, we call upon the county to end its eminent domain proceedings.”
“Yolo County has failed to justify spending over $50 million on a ranch,” said Dudley Holman. “Resolving the county budget deficit and protecting critical public services should be a greater priority.”
A recent public request by Peoples Advocate revealed a county proposal to sell the ranch’s water, natural gas and other assets in order to secure the funding to acquire the land. According to the finance plan, the county was to secure short-term financing by this month. Public/private partnerships and the previously undisclosed proposal conflicts with public statements that the land will remain as
“status quo” for the foreseeable future.Moreover, Yolo taxpayers are concerned with eminent domain proceedings that require courts to determine the fair market value of the property. Such proceeding would also require the county to pay millions of dollars for the ranch even if they have not successfully acquired Proposition 50 funding or any other alternative funding. Under these circumstances, any shortfall in grant funding would come from the county’s general fund. The result and risk to taxpayers would be county bankruptcy, tax increases and draconian cuts to public services.
“Taxpayers need to know whether the county’s decision to spend millions of dollars on a ranch puts current public services at risk,” said Dudley Holman. “The county’s failure to respond to taxpayer concerns left us no alternative but to call upon the board of supervisors to abandon its eminent domain proceedings and ask them to work with the new owners to protect its existing use for agriculture and the environment.”
“The Yolo County Joint Powers Authority should give the community every opportunity to express concerns and to be assured by its elected leaders that their tax dollars are protected,” said Holman. “Until then, the community is simply in the dark.”
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Yolo County Taxpayer Association is the voice of Yolo County taxpayers and is dedicated to ensuring greater government accountability to county taxpayers.