By Vignesh Ramachandran, Peninsula Press
The downtown Redwood City of yesteryear earned a crude nickname: “Deadwood City.” But since the 1980s, a steady stream of redevelopment funds paved the way for a new breed of restaurants, movie theaters and shops that continue to draw large crowds of residents and visitors alike.
Now, city officials say, the progress is at risk of stalling.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2011-12 budget calls for eliminating the 399 redevelopment agencies in California and rerouting $1.7 billion of local property-tax revenue the agencies would have captured. The money would go to local public schools to make up for budget gaps the state has been filling for years.
The fate of redevelopment agencies now rests with California’s Supreme Court. By Jan. 15, the court is expected to decide two questions: Is it constitutional to eliminate the agencies? And if so, does the state have the power to ask the agencies to voluntarily pay $400 million a year to stay functioning?
A ruling in favor of the state could have enormous impact on cities. Continue Reading >>