Sacramento Report
June 19, 2012
CLTA Committee Works on Trailer Bill for Redevelopment Agencies
CLTA is working on changes to recommend for a budget trailer bill to clean up last year’s elimination of the Redevelopment Agencies (RDAs). The CLTA has prepared language to resolve title issues surrounding the elimination of the agencies and is having ongoing discussions with the Administration and leadership in the Senate and Assembly as well as with the State Controller’s office in an effort to clarify the issues and possible solutions.
The problem is that the original legislation eliminating redevelopment agencies failed to define housing assets and was unclear on the process and requirements for the transfer of housing assets to a successor. The transfer of housing assets is mandatory. Many RDAs, prior to their dissolution, and many successor agencies, have undertaken to transfer housing assets to the local housing successor.
The Department of Finance has proposed requiring the identification of housing assets and the transfer to title to the assets be authorized by a resolution of the oversight board. However, many of these transfers were made without oversight board direction, based on an interpretation of the law that the transfers were mandatory and the oversight board’s role was simply to ensure that the successor agency properly transferred those assets.
Three issues being addressed by the CLTA are:
- The protection of third parties where housing assets have already been transferred by a redevelopment agency or successor agency.
- Providing a definition for housing assets that avoids having to trace funds back to the Low/Mod Housing Fund.
- Providing more certainty to the effectiveness of an oversight board resolution and supporting resolution authority allowing a successor agency to ratify the transfer of a housing asset.
