R Sheet on Redevelopment Revival in California
Key Points
- 1) Redevelopment agencies were created in the 1940s to fight urban blight, but morphed into a way for local governments to divert property tax dollars from traditional services.
- 2) These agencies routinely abused eminent domain by taking private homes and businesses and giving them to developers who promised tax-generating projects.
- 3) Gov. Jerry Brown shuttered the agencies in 2011 as he sought to fill a budget hole.
- 4) Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom cited fiscal concerns in vetoing SB 5, which would have tapped $2 billion a year and increased affordable housing earmarks to 50 percent.
- 5) A similar bill, SB 795, has been introduced this year. Given recent economic concerns, lawmakers should reject this latest redevelopment revival.