Redevelopment.US

Editorial, The Press-Enterprise | The death of redevelopment does not remove the need for revitalizing deteriorating areas or replacing aging infrastructure. But that demand does not require resurrecting a flawed program, as local governments have other ways to spur renewal. Legislators should build on those existing tools, keeping them locally funded and accountable to voters.

A state Senate hearing last week outlined options for replacing redevelopment and handling its aftermath. California, it turns out, already has other promising ways to fight urban blight. And legislators should look at expanding those approaches, instead of trying to redesign redevelopment.  Read the entire editorial . . .

By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air | Five months ago, Reason TV put together a good look at the aftermath of decades-long urban renewal policies in New York City, as an example of what happened in every major American city in the post-World War II era.  Advocates of government-controlled redevelopment hailed it as a way to save blighted cities from the depredations of private property owners, but in practice it became a mechanism to fund and control political machines, reward cronies, and destroy communities — all on the backs of taxpayers.

Nearly seventy years after it began, one state has decided to dump redevelopment altogether — although not for any high-minded ideas of government reform.  California simply can’t afford it any longer.  Read the entire article . . .

By Teri Sforza, Orange County Register | Redevelopment in California is a bit like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey: What began as a brilliant and useful creation morphed into a monster that turned murderously on its masters.

Such stories can only end one way: The monster must be destroyed.

“Redevelopment in 2011 bore little resemblance to the small, locally financed program the Legislature authorized in 1945,” says the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office in a report that reads like a clear-eyed obituary. “Statewide, the RDAs received more property taxes in 2011 than all of the state’s fire, parks, and other special districts combined and, in some areas of the state, more property taxes than the city or county received. Redevelopment also imposed considerable costs on the state’s General Fund because the state backfilled K-14 districts for property tax revenues distributed to RDAs. Overall, redevelopment cost the state’s General Fund about as much as the University of California or California State University systems, but did not appear to yield commensurate statewide benefits.”

The city of Westminster, for example, declared everything in its borders to be a redevelopment zone. Its redevelopment agency took in $38 million in revenue last year; while the city itself took in just a wee bit more, at $41 million.

How did this happen? The life, and death, of redevelopment, is really a fascinating tale of adaptation, power and the brutal will to survive.  Read the entire story . . .

By Teri Sforza, Orange County Register | It’s a “Sorry Johnny’s dead, but can I have his roller skates?” sort of thing.

The demise of redevelopment agencies will eventually hike the share of general property tax revenues that schools, community colleges, cities, counties and special districts get by more than $5 billion a year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

In the near-term, though, the crystal ball isn’t quite so clear. The unraveling of this colossal experiment in public economic planning makes it unclear precisely how much money owed by these defunct agencies must actually be honored and repaid — and thus, how much will  be available for redistribution to other governments over the next few years.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s crystal ball says about $1.8 billion of new revenue will be available this year from the defunct redevelopment agencies, with about $1 billion of that  going to education. It could be less than that in the short-term, the LAO warns — but it will eventually be substantial.  Read the entire story . . .

Download the
Legislative Analyst’s Report:
Unwinding Redevelopment

Santa Monica Outlook | Redevelopment agencies across the Sate were dissolved February 1, but a key question remains — “Where is the Money Going?”  On February 23, Santa Monica College’s Public Policy Institute will tackle that question during a panel and audience discussion on “The End of Redevelopment?” The event will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the college’s Bundy Campus, 3171 S. Bundy Drive, Room 123.  Read the entire article . . .