The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands (“Stewardship Council”) is a nonprofit organization, which was formed as a result of a PG&E Settlement Agreement with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2003 and the Stipulation Resolving Issues Regarding the Land Conservation Commitment. The Stewardship Council is charged with implementing PG&E’s Land Conservation Commitment.
As part of the PG&E Settlement Agreement and Stipulation in 2003, a Land Conservation Commitment was established to permanently protect approximately 140,000 acres of PG&E watershed lands. Located across 22 counties, the lands encompass almost 1,000 parcels. The Watershed Lands stretch from Shasta County in the north to Kern County in the south, from the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges to the Eel River watershed in Mendocino County. For planning purposes, the parcels were grouped into 47 planning units.
Protecting the watershed lands will be accomplished through (1) PG&E’s grant of conservation easements to one or more public agencies or qualified conservation organizations so as to protect the natural habitat of fish, wildlife, and plants, the preservation of open space, outdoor recreation by the general public, sustainable forestry, agricultural uses, and historic values (collectively the Beneficial Public Values); and in some cases (2) PG&E’s donation of the watershed lands in fee to one or more public entities or qualified conservation organizations, whose ownership would be consistent with these conservation objectives.
In accordance with PG&E's Settlement Agreement, certain lands owned by PG&E are being donated to public agencies or qualified organizations for the protection of the lands. This transfer of lands has the potential for property tax implications. The current total estimated tax neutrality lump sum amount for Shasta County is approximately $2 million for 23,386 acres, which would be paid following the closure of each applicable land donation if the lump sum funding agreement is approved by the Board of Supervisors.
On October 13, 2015, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors passed Resolution No. 2015-125 authorizing the County Executive Officer to execute funding agreements with the Stewardship Council to implement tax neutrality payments in annual installments in lieu of property taxes. The Stewardship Council has requested that the Board of Supervisors reconsider its October 2015 resolution electing to receive the tax neutrality payments in annual installments and instead consider receiving lump sum payments following the closure of each applicable land transaction in Shasta County.
To date, no other county has officially chosen the annual payment option, which has reduced the feasibility of this option for the Stewardship Council. With such limited participation among counties in the annual payment option, it would be difficult to create an investment account whereby annual payments to Shasta County would be assured.