Benoit Blasts Governor’s Redevelopment Proposals

Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit told former colleagues at the statehouse in Sacramento on Thursday that taking away counties’ redevelopment funding is not the way to resolve the state’s financial woes.

“It was critically important to share the merits of this vital tool for local government which has made possible infrastructure beneficial to the entire community,” Benoit said. “We should not throw this baby out with the bathwater.”

The supervisor was invited to testify before the state Senate’s Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee regarding how redevelopment funds are used in the county. The hearing comes on the heels of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to phase out county and city redevelopment agencies to bolster the state’s general fund and balance the budget.

“I came to Sacramento to present the reality of Riverside County’s budget picture, where overall personnel has shrunk 10 percent and department directors have sustained deep cuts, upwards of 25 percent to their budgets,” Benoit said. “I have not seen this same level of commitment to reductions in the state’s bureaucracy.”

Benoit, a Republican who served three terms in the Assembly and a partial term in the Senate, said redevelopment funding, which originates from property taxes, has enabled the county to build libraries, new sidewalks, parks and other projects in low-income communities such as Mecca and Rubidoux.

“Riverside County has used redevelopment well to eradicate blight, build affordable housing and revitalize some of the county’s most challenged communities,” the supervisor concluded.

In the wake of the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal to phase out RDAs, counties and municipalities have been scrambling to approve bonds and improvement projects tied to redevelopment.

On Jan. 18, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of issuing $155 million in bonds to assure planned redevelopment projects have adequate funding over the next five years. The IOUs will be structured in the next two months, requiring another board vote before they’re sold.

Redevelopment agencies receive about 12 percent of property tax receipts. The money is intended to pay for projects that eliminate blight and fund low-income rental housing.

According to the governor’s budget, the $5 billion slated for redevelopment in the next fiscal year could be used, instead, to help eliminate California’s $25.4 billion two-year deficit. He also wants voters to approve the continuation of elevated tax rates.

Riverside County’s redevelopment agency, with about $100 million in annual revenue, is the state’s seventh largest. After allocating funding to other agencies, such as schools, the agency has about $77 million to fund various public improvements.

California Controller John Chiang announced last month that the county, along with the cities of Desert Hot Springs and Palm Desert, as well as 15 other municipalities statewide, will be audited to verify that they’re paying for low- and moderate-income housing as required by law; accurately providing allotted payments to schools; and not overpaying board members and employees or misapplying the “blighted” designation necessary before a project qualifies for redevelopment funding.

Benoit, whose Fourth District covers most of the Coachella Valley and eastern county region, told City News Service that the audit is “welcome” and he hoped Chiang reports back to Brown “just how much we’ve done.”