Last week, the Chumash appealed the tax assessment for the 1,400-acre Santa Ynez Valley land known as Camp 4. Five years ago, the tribe purchased the property — previously owned by the late Fess Parker — for about $40 million. Three years later, the tribe officially applied to annex the property into its reservation, which would remove it from county tax rolls.
Now, the property is assessed at about $35 million, which translates to about $350,000 in property taxes. But the tribe argued this week the land should be revalued at one-fourth of assessment — about $8.8 million. That would equate to about $88,000 in taxes.
The reason for the discrepancy in land value, according to Chumash spokesperson Mike Traphagen, has to do with the fact that two years ago Camp 4 was removed from the Williamson Act, which gives property owners a tax break in exchange for keeping the land open space.