City Council keeps Redevelopment Agency alive
Pay or die.
Those unpleasant options were offered Yorba Linda’s City Council recently as a result of state budget legislation aimed at dissolving redevelopment agencies or requiring agencies to make hefty payments to remain in business.
Council members unanimously chose to pay the fee in order to stay alive and use agency funding to complete major elements of the Town Center redevelopment project. The fee for the first year will take about $4.9 million out of an estimated income of $21.4 million.
Yorba Linda’s city-operated Redevelopment Agency is funded by “increment” property tax revenue from a project area including 2,640 eastside and 344 westside acres out of a city total of 11,125 acres. Assessed value of the 2,984 acres is more than $2 billion.
For example, more than 2,000 new homes have been built in the project area. The added property taxes collected due to this construction and from new business and commercial development goes to the agency, rather than the city to pay for police and other services.
Of course, the agency doesn’t keep all of the $21.4 million income. About $9.5 million is “passed through” to 19 other taxing agencies that would normally collect some of the property tax revenue, including the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district.
A state-mandated 20 percent or $4.2 million is set aside for affordable housing and $6.4 million pays for bond debt, leaving $1 million for operating expenses, non-housing projects and programs, according to a recent report by Housing and Redevelopment Manager Pam Stoker and Assistant City Attorney Bill Ihrke.
The city plans to pay most of the first-year $4.9 million fee from the housing set aside fund, which would not have to be reimbursed and which is not an option for the future.
Future payments are estimated at $1.2 million or more per year, depending on annual increases in assessed values in the project area. The money goes to county-controlled funds benefiting local school and special districts.
Stated Stoker and Ihrke: “Based on annual cash flow alone, the agency would not be able to afford the…payments of $1.2 million each year” but “due to cash reserves on hand, the agency would be able to afford the payments through [2014-15] before exhausting all its available funding.”
They noted, “This would allow the agency to continue functioning through the development of the Town Center project.” Originally, the agency’s final taxes were to be collected in 2033 eastside and 2038 westside.
On another issue, some key figures regarding police costs were trimmed from last week’s column due to space. As mentioned, per-resident costs for police services during the past decade rose from $112 to $179 in Yorba Linda and from $170 to $364 in Brea.
Current costs in Placentia and La Habra, with stand-alone departments, are $257 each, up from $172 and $195. Lake Forest and Laguna Niguel, with Sheriff’s contracts, pay $177 and $160, up from $116 and $92, based on figures compiled by Brea Lt. Jerry Brakebill.
And Tom Lindsey, who cast the lone vote against exploring other police options Aug. 16, had earlier made a motion, which died due to lack of a second, to expedite renewal of the current Brea contract.
Absent was Jim Winder, who in the past has commented negatively on a “joint powers” agreement with Brea due to added costs for Yorba Linda.
Those unpleasant options were offered Yorba Linda’s City Council recently as a result of state budget legislation aimed at dissolving redevelopment agencies or requiring agencies to make hefty payments to remain in business.
Council members unanimously chose to pay the fee in order to stay alive and use agency funding to complete major elements of the Town Center redevelopment project. The fee for the first year will take about $4.9 million out of an estimated income of $21.4 million.
Yorba Linda’s city-operated Redevelopment Agency is funded by “increment” property tax revenue from a project area including 2,640 eastside and 344 westside acres out of a city total of 11,125 acres. Assessed value of the 2,984 acres is more than $2 billion.
For example, more than 2,000 new homes have been built in the project area. The added property taxes collected due to this construction and from new business and commercial development goes to the agency, rather than the city to pay for police and other services.
Of course, the agency doesn’t keep all of the $21.4 million income. About $9.5 million is “passed through” to 19 other taxing agencies that would normally collect some of the property tax revenue, including the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district.
A state-mandated 20 percent or $4.2 million is set aside for affordable housing and $6.4 million pays for bond debt, leaving $1 million for operating expenses, non-housing projects and programs, according to a recent report by Housing and Redevelopment Manager Pam Stoker and Assistant City Attorney Bill Ihrke.
The city plans to pay most of the first-year $4.9 million fee from the housing set aside fund, which would not have to be reimbursed and which is not an option for the future.
Future payments are estimated at $1.2 million or more per year, depending on annual increases in assessed values in the project area. The money goes to county-controlled funds benefiting local school and special districts.
Stated Stoker and Ihrke: “Based on annual cash flow alone, the agency would not be able to afford the…payments of $1.2 million each year” but “due to cash reserves on hand, the agency would be able to afford the payments through [2014-15] before exhausting all its available funding.”
They noted, “This would allow the agency to continue functioning through the development of the Town Center project.” Originally, the agency’s final taxes were to be collected in 2033 eastside and 2038 westside.
On another issue, some key figures regarding police costs were trimmed from last week’s column due to space. As mentioned, per-resident costs for police services during the past decade rose from $112 to $179 in Yorba Linda and from $170 to $364 in Brea.
Current costs in Placentia and La Habra, with stand-alone departments, are $257 each, up from $172 and $195. Lake Forest and Laguna Niguel, with Sheriff’s contracts, pay $177 and $160, up from $116 and $92, based on figures compiled by Brea Lt. Jerry Brakebill.
And Tom Lindsey, who cast the lone vote against exploring other police options Aug. 16, had earlier made a motion, which died due to lack of a second, to expedite renewal of the current Brea contract.
Absent was Jim Winder, who in the past has commented negatively on a “joint powers” agreement with Brea due to added costs for Yorba Linda.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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