A plan that Temecula officials said will "rob" the city was approved by the Supreme Court today.
Judges decided the state can seize more than $1 billion in redevelopment agency funds, putting about 400 redevelopment agencies in jeopardy.
to learn what a redevelopment agency is.
In the case CRA v. Matosantos, the justices also struck down a separate law that would have allowed redevelopment agencies to fund local projects if they paid a portion of tax revenue to the state.
Temecula agreed to pay the fee, which several officials called "extortion money." To read what they said,
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed two laws – ABXI26, which allowed for the complete closure of redevelopment agencies and ABXI27, which would allow redevelopment agencies to function if they paid the tax revenue portion.
The City of Temecula filed a lawsuit against the state for passing these laws. To read about it, .
Supporters of redevelopment agencies have said that earlier rulings were in violation of the voter approved Proposition 22. in the fight to save redevelopment funds.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John Perez, along with many other lawmakers, said the legislative vote was intended only to extract revenues from redevelopment agencies, not abolish them altogether. As the Legislature debated the two bills, Senator Steinberg said, “[T]his bill is the fair and right choice because it does not in fact eliminate redevelopment, but it reduces its size.”
In a written statement, the CRA and League of California Cities vowed to continue the fight to save redevelopment and called for their own special legislation that would re-establish redevelopment in California.
"Without immediate legislative action to fix this adverse decision, this ruling is a tremendous blow to local job creation and economic advancement," wrote CRA Board President Julio Fuentes in the statement. "The legislative record is abundantly clear that legislators did not intend to abolish redevelopment. We hope to work with state lawmakers to come up with a way to restore redevelopment."
