Free Republic

California's plan to dismantle redevelopment agencies was put on hold today by the state Supreme Court, which plans to decide by January whether the state's elimination of the program is legal. The court agreed to allow a lawsuit, which challenges the legality of the elimination of redevelopment, to move forward, and said the program can continue to exist while the case is pending. It also set an expedited schedule, saying it plans to issue a final opinion by mid-January on whether the Legislature had the power to eliminate the economic development program. And while the decision allows redevelopment agencies to...

Local redevelopment agencies have pushed through nearly $690 million in bonds sales during the first two months of this year -- that's more than half of the $1.2 billion in debt those agencies took on in all of 2010, according to figures the state treasurer's office compiled. Furthermore, given the shaky market, local governments are borrowing money at high rates -- increasing the amount of property tax revenue that will go to lenders, said Tom Dresslar, a treasury department spokesman. "They're flooding the market with these bonds at a time when the market sucks from an issuer's perspective," Dresslar said....

The state controller has completed a review of 18 California redevelopment agencies and concluded their "lack of accountability and transparency is a breeding ground for waste, abuse and impropriety." Controller John Chiang has determined that, for an activity consuming "more than $5.5 billion of public resources annually, we should be troubled that there are no objective performance measures demonstrating that taxpayers are receiving optimal return for each invested dollar." The review ticked off agency shortcomings, failures and questionable activities, including ...

09/29/2006   GAAS:706:06   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Protect Private Property Rights Gov. Schwarzenegger signed legislation today that protects the rights of private property owners.   “Government must respect the private property rights of our citizens,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger. “I am proud to sign legislation to further enhance the protection of property rights of Californians.”   Specifically, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the following five bills:   SB 53 by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) requires an agency to make additional findings of blight if the agency wishes to extend the time limits on its authorization for eminent-domain actions. This bill would...