Redevelopment Resurrection?
“Sometimes the right things happen for the wrong reason, such as when California governor Jerry Brown signed budget legislation in 2011 to shut down the state’s ham-fisted redevelopment agencies. Brown’s opposition to redevelopment had nothing to do with fidelity to private-property rights or disdain for eminent-domain abuse; it was a fiscal expedient to find money in a tight budget year. The agencies had siphoned 12 percent of the state’s budget annually from traditional public services—public education, firefighting, and the like—and directed it toward local economic-development projects. They also distorted local economies, subsidized developers, and abused property owners. Now that the state’s budget outlook has improved at least superficially, the agencies could make a comeback.
Over the last three years, Brown vetoed several bills that would have revived the redevelopment agencies in one form or another. Earlier this month, though, the governor unveiled his revised May budget, which suggested a much brighter fiscal picture. Officials are now talking about how to squirrel away surpluses and pay down debt. And the redevelopment agencies’ supporters are stepping up efforts to resurrect their favored program.”
Greenhut, Steven. City Journal 23 May 2014.
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