Calif.'s Budget Woes Could Doom Redevelopment Bills
Stephen Ryan was quoted in a March 22, 2012, Law360 article about a number of pending bills that would allow California cities to use money from their dissolved redevelopment agencies to pay from affordable housing and other projects, rather than turn the funds over to the state.
A California Supreme Court ruling eliminated redevelopment agencies but experts say cities will face a tough fight to keep the leftover redevelopment money given the state's budget woes. Ryan said given that affordable housing remains a huge problem in California, “if the monies go toward their intended purpose, it would provide a nice segue from the old redevelopment world to the new world without redevelopment agencies.”
The bills could also help stave off litigation, he noted.
“Many developers believe they have enforceable obligations with redevelopment agencies and if the state doesn’t honor these obligations, I expect these disputes are going to end up in the courts,” he said. “But if this legislation passes, it would help alleviate the fights over what is or is not an enforceable obligation, and the bills would preserve the pot of money to be used for intended purposes."