Politics & Government

City Will Keep Redevelopment Agency, Minus Almost $1 Million

Officials still hold out hope for courts to rule that the California Legislature can't take cities' money to patch budget holes.

San Clemente City Council voted to reinstate its redevelopment agency Tuesday, though it will be nearly a million dollars poorer.

The California state budget package disbanded RDAs, governmental mechanisms used by cities to fix up blighted areas and add affordable housing.

San Clemente’s RDA is funded by roughly $2.3 million in taxes collected annually from the Pier Bowl redevelopment area, but it will have to kick back $970,000 to the state this year, and $250,000 each year after, according to initial estimates.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Council members complained that Sacramento’s take-back of city redevelopment money was tantamount to a robbery or shakedown.

“Maybe we ought to put a dye marker in that sack of money,” said Councilman Jim Dahl.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Apparently other cities feel that way as well: San Clemente City Attorney Jeff Oderman said the League of California Cities and California Redevelopment Association filed a lawsuit Monday to prevent the budget bill from taking effect, and his own firm had been retained by other municipal clients in filing a separate action against the provision.

In the meantime, City Manager George Scarborough said, the city would still likely be able to complete most of its current capital improvement plans—but it’ll take longer than the five years over which the projects were originally scheduled.


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