A small Lompoc vineyard is suing Santa Barbara County in federal courtroom, alleging native officers pressured companies into a compulsory funding program that compels them to bankroll advertising and advocacy efforts they neither help nor agreed to fund.
Flying Goat Cellars, based in 2000 and owned by Norm Yost and Kate Griffith (additionally recognized in filings as Kathleen Griffith), filed swimsuit within the US District Courtroom for the Central District of California.
The criticism targets the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Affiliation, and Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson in his position as board chair.
On the heart of the dispute is a Wine Enterprise Enchancment District created in February 2025.
The Board of Supervisors authorised the measure in a 5-0 vote, establishing a compulsory 1% evaluation on vineyard gross sales, together with tasting room purchases, wine membership transactions, occasions, meals, and merchandise.
County officers estimated this system would generate about $1.5 million yearly, with all funds directed towards regional tourism and wine {industry} advertising.
However Flying Goat argues the construction goes far past a easy tax or price.
The vineyard says the system forces participation within the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Affiliation, which administers the district and controls how the cash is spent on promotional campaigns and {industry} advocacy.
In line with the lawsuit, the association successfully compels wineries to fund speech and lobbying actions they could disagree with.
The submitting says the affiliation’s advertising priorities give attention to broad regional promotion and worldwide attain, which Flying Goat claims doesn’t match its personal enterprise mannequin centered on direct buyer relationships in Lompoc and surrounding areas.
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“Flying Goat’s success is constructed on constructing direct relationships with the purchasers who stroll via our vineyard’s doorways, not on worldwide markets and the sorts of broad campaigns the vintners’ affiliation favors,” Norm Yost stated. “Our imaginative and prescient for Flying Goat and the vintners’ affiliation’s imaginative and prescient for the Santa Barbara wine {industry} should not the identical.”
The lawsuit, supported by the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Heart for Constitutional Litigation and Friedland Cianfrani LLP, argues the coverage violates the First Modification by compelling non-public companies to subsidize speech and affiliation with which they disagree.
It additionally raises Fifth Modification issues, claiming non-public income is being redirected to a personal group and not using a reputable public use.
Goldwater Institute Senior Workers Legal professional Adam Shelton stated constitutional protections are being ignored.
“The Supreme Courtroom has made clear that the federal government can not power Individuals to subsidize speech they disagree with,” Shelton advised The Heart Sq.. “It has additionally acknowledged a elementary proper to not be compelled into non-public associations. Santa Barbara County’s mandate violates each rules.”
The criticism additional notes that Flying Goat tried to choose out of the system by contacting the Vintners’ Affiliation however acquired no response.
It additionally cites objections raised by Griffith through the February 2025 Board of Supervisors assembly, the place she warned wineries would face added prices to replace techniques as a way to accumulate the brand new price.
The submitting says the Board by no means responded to earlier issues raised by Goldwater Institute attorneys, leaving the vineyard with no choice however litigation.
Flying Goat is looking for reimbursement of charges already collected, authorized prices, and a symbolic $1 in damages for alleged civil rights violations.
The case provides new authorized strain to the county’s tourism-funded advertising construction and raises broader questions on how far native governments can go in requiring participation in industry-wide promotional organizations.
