It appears that the governor and Legislature’s threat to close down Redevelopment Agencies across California has come to fruition.
In order to balance the state’s budget, Governor Brown decided to cannibalize local Community Redevelopment Agencies, CRAs, and usurp their treasuries.
Hoping to stop the loss of funds they use to attract businesses to their municipalities and to build affordable housing, the CRA agencies went to court to challenge Sacramento’s decision, but lost, and are now finding they must dissolve by Feb. 1.
Many of the cities are now facing the prospect of being financially unable to finish projects already in the pipeline that they planned to complete using CRA funds.
Many of these projects were for construction of affordable housing, retail and business districts that would not only have improved blighted areas and develop new sources of sales tax revenue, they would have created much needed private sector jobs.
While this may not have been the governor and Legislature’s intention, it is nonetheless the result.
We urge the members of the State Legislature to consult with city officials and to come to some agreement and legislative solution to fix this mess.
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