State reviews city's redevelopment spending
I was one of only two audience members at a recent meeting of Yorba Linda’s newest government entity, as the seven-member body wrestled with finance issues associated with the state-mandated dismantling of the city’s 29-year-old Redevelopment Agency.
The freshly minted panel, named the Oversight Board of the Successor Agency to the Yorba Linda Redevelopment Agency, is contesting decisions by the state Department of Finance to reject some expenditures using former Redevelopment Agency tax funding.
Specifically, the state denied more than $26 million in planned expenses, consisting mostly of items connected to the City Council’s proposal to redevelop Town Center using the increased property taxes collected from the past redevelopment project areas.
Also rebuffed by the state were Savi Ranch signage expenses, administrative and salary expenditures and a contract for work on a state-required housing document.
Unless state officials reverse their rulings, the city would have to find other revenue sources to continue the designated projects. The Oversight Board voted 6-1 to send a modified “Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule” back to the state.
The document reaffirms the city’s position that two Savi Ranch sign contracts and a pact with Harris & Associates for Town Center engineering work are legitimate obligations incurred by the former Redevelopment Agency and should be paid by Agency funding.
But the city did agree to remove items associated with spending bond proceeds for Town Center development because “no documents exist to establish an enforceable obligation.” The city had included these items as “a placeholder” for future spending, officials stated.
These agreed-upon placeholder removals accounted for $23.7 million of the previous $26.8 million denied by the state in a three-page letter to a city official dated May 18.
A little background: the state abolished redevelopment agencies as of Feb. 1, but allowed city councils to serve as successor agencies to wrap up redevelopment affairs. Successor agencies were to have actions reviewed by appointed oversight boards.
Yorba Linda’s oversight board includes Mayor Mark Schwing and the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Manager, Pam Stoker, appointed by the council, and Councilman Tom Lindsey, Kennith Peterson and Stephen Stowell, named by the county Board of Supervisors upon the council’s recommendation.
Others are Claudette Dain, named from the North Orange County Community College District, and the incoming Placentia-Yorba Linda school district superintendent, Doug Domene, appointed by the county Superintendent of Schools.
Obviously, the local oversight board is dominated by city-associated reps unlikely to not echo council concerns. However, real oversight is handled by the above-mentioned state Department of Finance.
Among items cut by the state were administrative, legal and salary costs claimed by the city for the 2012 calendar year. The city seeks $1,407,795 paid from redevelopment tax funds, while the state maintains only $638,631 will be allowed for such reimbursement.
The freshly minted panel, named the Oversight Board of the Successor Agency to the Yorba Linda Redevelopment Agency, is contesting decisions by the state Department of Finance to reject some expenditures using former Redevelopment Agency tax funding.
Specifically, the state denied more than $26 million in planned expenses, consisting mostly of items connected to the City Council’s proposal to redevelop Town Center using the increased property taxes collected from the past redevelopment project areas.
Also rebuffed by the state were Savi Ranch signage expenses, administrative and salary expenditures and a contract for work on a state-required housing document.
Unless state officials reverse their rulings, the city would have to find other revenue sources to continue the designated projects. The Oversight Board voted 6-1 to send a modified “Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule” back to the state.
The document reaffirms the city’s position that two Savi Ranch sign contracts and a pact with Harris & Associates for Town Center engineering work are legitimate obligations incurred by the former Redevelopment Agency and should be paid by Agency funding.
But the city did agree to remove items associated with spending bond proceeds for Town Center development because “no documents exist to establish an enforceable obligation.” The city had included these items as “a placeholder” for future spending, officials stated.
These agreed-upon placeholder removals accounted for $23.7 million of the previous $26.8 million denied by the state in a three-page letter to a city official dated May 18.
A little background: the state abolished redevelopment agencies as of Feb. 1, but allowed city councils to serve as successor agencies to wrap up redevelopment affairs. Successor agencies were to have actions reviewed by appointed oversight boards.
Yorba Linda’s oversight board includes Mayor Mark Schwing and the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Manager, Pam Stoker, appointed by the council, and Councilman Tom Lindsey, Kennith Peterson and Stephen Stowell, named by the county Board of Supervisors upon the council’s recommendation.
Others are Claudette Dain, named from the North Orange County Community College District, and the incoming Placentia-Yorba Linda school district superintendent, Doug Domene, appointed by the county Superintendent of Schools.
Obviously, the local oversight board is dominated by city-associated reps unlikely to not echo council concerns. However, real oversight is handled by the above-mentioned state Department of Finance.
Among items cut by the state were administrative, legal and salary costs claimed by the city for the 2012 calendar year. The city seeks $1,407,795 paid from redevelopment tax funds, while the state maintains only $638,631 will be allowed for such reimbursement.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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