1 day Ago By Todd R. Hansen
FAIRFIELD — Flannery Associates LLC has appealed the property tax valuation on 219 properties, arguing the true figure should be about 16% of Solano County's assessment. The county set the combined assessed value at about $454.06 million.
Flannery has appealed to reduce the total to about $72.75 million, the county Assessor's Office reported. The difference would be close to $4 million in actual taxes.
Flannery officials had no comment. Flannery was the agent that purchased about 65,000 acres of east Solano County property for what has become largely known as California Forever. Part of the argument the development group made was that the county's recent Agricultural Mitigation policy and actions taken by the Airport Land Use Commission restrict the land use and therefore reduces the value of those properties.
The mitigation policy requires that for every acre taken out of agricultural use, a comparable amount of land – based on the county's formula – must be protected. The commission amended the Travis Air Force Base Land Use Compatibility Plan, adding a Low Altitude Maneuvering Zone that would restrict development, including California Forever's East Solano Plan. That plan calls for a new city with commercial, industrial, agricultural and energy-generation elements.
Jan Sramek, the founder and top executive of California Forever, called the commission decision "political" and argued that even the Travis AFB leadership has said the new tactical zone is not necessary to complete the base missions. The county is being sued by a different developer, Buzz Oates, over the impacts the new tactical zone will have on its warehousing project. The number of parcels under appeal represents close to one-third of Flannery's holdings.
The rest is under Williamson Act contracts. Assessor Glenn Zook said the assessments are based on the market value of the land – a market largely created by California Forever itself. "That's kind of the position my office has taken: They created their own market," Zook said.
"My job is to interpret the market, and that's what is happening out there." He said he was guided by sale prices. "They say the county calls it grazing land, but are not assessing it as grazing land," Zook said.
"Anytime there is a change in ownership, we have to look at (comparable) sales and they created their own market." The assessor said he has not had any conversations with Flannery representatives, yet, so he wants to withhold judgement on what will happen next. However, he does not see himself lowering the assessment value, so it will likely be up to the Assessment Appeals Board to decide.
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