California's redevelopment agencies have almost as much if not more debt than what they pull in from tax revenues, according to this investigation by The Wall Street Journal.
The paper reviewed documents from the 2009 fiscal year representing more than two dozen redevelopment agencies. The implication is that efforts to counteract blight and create jobs are straining city budgets beyond the point of sustainability.
"Cities and towns in the state created redevelopment agencies to attract tax-paying businesses to blighted areas. When new developments raise property values, the additional property-tax revenue goes to the agencies to pay off bondholders. But such plans go awry when property values tumble.
Hercules, Calif., a city of 25,000 people northeast of San Francisco, sold some $260 million in redevelopment bonds, mainly to acquire private land it sought to improve to attract new businesses. But the recession wrecked those plans as plunging property values dried up hoped-for revenue gains.
The old industrial city, once famous for dynamite manufacturing, faces some $15 million in annual interest payments on redevelopment bonds and related costs, exceeding the $10.5 million in higher yearly property tax collections generated by the redevelopment district."
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research