State Asserts Power Over Redevelopment Agencies

In a Nov. 10 article about the California Supreme Court's oral arguments over the fate of the state's more than 400 redevelopment agencies, the Associated Press quoted Stephen Ryan, a housing redevelopment lawyer at Cox Castle & Nicholson who watched the arguments.

He said one route the Supreme Court could take is upholding the elimination of the agencies but striking down the second law authorizing the new, volunteer funding plan of the redevelopment agencies, known as RDAs.

Such a ruling would be the agencies worst-case scenario, because it would mean their complete elimination.

“The state had difficulty explaining why its voluntary payment plan was not tantamount to an unconstitutional ransom payment of property tax increment,” Ryan said. “On the other hand, the RDAs had a difficult time explaining why RDAs had a protected right to stay in existence.”