Board continues Dare to Dream Farms TOT appeal to Aug. 25, asks staff for options to preserve community farm

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on July 7 continued an appeal from Dare to Dream Farms (the Raff family) over a Treasurer‑Tax Collector audit that concluded $65,840.11 was due for unreported transient‑occupancy activity covering April 2022–March 2025.

Treasurer staff told the board audits identified unpaid transient‑occupancy tax (TOT) and accompanying TBID assessments and penalties for the period under review. The Raffs and dozens of community supporters described the farm as an active community asset, citing CSA subscriptions, an honor‑system farm stand, SNAP/EBT online access, school field trips, training and workforce pathways, and emergency food assistance during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

“Bringing a working farm to the community and offering CSA boxes, free school tours and workforce opportunities is central to our operations,” Megan Raff said. Supporters — including a long list of nonprofit and civic letters submitted into the record — urged the board to find a way to preserve the farm’s community services.

Board members described a tension between legal obligations to collect tax revenue and the farm’s asserted community benefit. Supervisor Hartman said the farm’s SNAP/EBT access and school programs represent an identifiable public purpose; Supervisor Levainino said he supported finding an imaginative path that preserves services while respecting tax law. Treasurer staff noted the county’s ordinance does not provide a routine payment‑plan mechanism or penalty waiver outside the code’s criteria.

After extended discussion the board voted unanimously to continue the appeal to the July 14/Santa Maria meeting cycle on the board’s long‑range calendar (scheduled Aug. 25 in Santa Maria) and asked county counsel and Treasurer staff to prepare options and findings for the board to consider — including ways to document public benefit and potential contractual approaches (for example, a county program contract that would fund the farm to deliver specified public services). Staff said interest would not continue to accrue during the administrative appeal while the board considered next steps.

What’s next: staff and counsel will return with a menu of options for the Aug. 25 board meeting, including recommended findings and possible programmatic or contractual approaches to preserve community services while addressing the county’s tax collection responsibilities.