The State has issued bills for the redevelopment money they hoped to grab from last year’s decision to dissolve the agencies. And the state has given successor agencies 48 hours to comply.
In most cases, successor agencies mean the local government counterparts of the redevelopment agencies. Pinole is the successor agency of the Pinole Redevelopment Agency; San Pablo is the successor agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Pablo. That means these local governments must each now cough up millions of dollars, or else face what’s been described as the hammer to last year’s dissolution laws.
The hammer, being held by the State Department of Finance over the heads of local governments, is sales and property taxes. Assembly Bill 1484 – which was added into the bevy of budget trailer bills in the last hours of the debate – authorizes the state to withhold sales and property taxes from cities until they have paid their share of the redevelopment agency money back to the state.
That means Pinole must either borrow $1 million to pay the state, or face the possibility of not receiving the majority of their funding. Pinole has $23 left in their reserve accounts.
From the Contra Costa Times:
Most of the 25 disbanded redevelopment agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties got a hefty bill from the state this week — with two days to pay it — and they are hopping mad.
“The $2.4 million payment due in two days and demanded by state Department of Finance was totally unexpected with no advance warning provided to local agencies,” said San Pablo City Manager Matt Rodriguez, adding that his city is looking at its legal options.
Pinole is already broke, and now it must borrow $1 million and repay the loan with general fund money, said an infuriated City Manager Belinda Espinosa.
Read the full article here.