The fight over redevelopment has been splashed across papers from Sacramento to San Diego this past summer. In June, Governor Brown signed two bills into law. The first dissolved the over 400 redevelopment agencies in the Golden State. The second, however, allowed redevelopment agencies to live on as long as they agreed to make a collective payment of $1.7 billion in the first year and $400 millions in subsequent years.
Redevelopment agencies are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Not liking either of the two choices, redevelopment agencies barely waited for the ink on the bills to dry before filing a lawsuit. They claim the bills are an unconstitutional money grab of redevelopment dollars by the state. The case will be heard by California’s highest court, which established an expedited schedule to allow a decision to be made before January 15, 2012.
Read the Castle Coalition’s press release urging the legislature to eliminate redevelopment agencies here.