Politics & Government

Council Agenda: Coping With Loss of Redevelopment Agency

Following court removal of cities' ability to keep their Redevelopment Agencies, the El Cerrito City Council tonight, Tuesday, will consider whether to take over the agency's housing responsibilities.

In its first regular meeting since the state Supreme Court's , the El Cerrito City Council tonight, Tuesday, will consider whether to take over the housing responsibilities of city's agency.

Background

Local Redevelopment Agencies – authorized by state law beginning in 1945 – are intended to allow cities to use property tax funds for remedying urban blight. Typical redevelopment projects involve housing and commercial development. El Cerrito's Redevelopment Agency has focused on the San Pablo Avenue corridor, with such recent projects as and the planned loan of $350,000 to Eden Housing for a 64-unit senior housing project next to City Hall.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city has been struggling with the fate of its Redevelopment Agency since July's enactment of two state laws that were part of the plan to balance the state budget. The first one, AB1x26 or the "Dissolution Act," dissolved the nearly 400 local Redevelopment Agencies in the state, and the second one, AB1x27 or the "Alternative Redevelopment Program Act," gave cities an option to keep their agencies by making annual payments to the state.

The two laws ended up in court after the League of California Cities and the California Redevelopment Association sued to block the state's action, and the state Supreme Court in effect suspended Redevelopment Agencies until it could issue a ruling.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The El Cerrito City Council meanwhile – to keep its Redevelopment Agency by paying $1.85 million this year and about $500,000 in 2013 followed by escalating amounts for several more years,

The Dec. 29 Supreme Court decision, however, cut off the option to keep the agency. It upheld the state law that dissolved the agencies and struck down the law that would have permitted cities to pay to keep them. The city's Redevelopment Agency remains suspended until Feb. 1, at which point it is legally dissolved under the court ruling.

City staff recommendation

City staff in a report to the council recommends that the city assume the El Cerrito Redevelopment Agency's housing assets and existing responsibilities. The report indicates that such a step would enable the city to receive loan repayments made from the agency's Housing Fund and allow the community to control development of local property acquired by the agency. If the city does not assume the housing responsibilites and assets, they would be transferred to the Contra Costa County Housing Authority, says the report, which is attached to this article.

The future of redevelopment functions in the city under the upheld state law remains somewhat uncertain, the staff report says. "Staff is still in the process of evaluating further implications of the legislation, which appears to have unintended consequences and conflicting provisions, and will return with additional information and clarifications as they become available," according to the report.

Related measure on Redevelopment Agencies

A related item on tonight's agenda is a request from Councilwoman Janet Abelson for council endorsement of a letter from Mayor Bill Jones supporting a proposed state law, SB 659, that would temporarily postpone the scheduled Feb.  1 date to dissolve the state's redevelopment agencies.

Move council meeting to Tuesday nights

Another action item before the council is the final vote on moving the council's regular meeting from Monday at 7:30 p.m. to Tuesday at 7 p.m. The council first voted on Nov. 21 to make the switch, which would break a 76-year tradition of meeting on Monday. Tonight's vote would make the action final, effective 30 days from now. (The council is meeting on a Tuesday night this week because yesterday, Monday, was an official holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.)

Tonight's meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at .


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