PS Council to hire outside firms to conduct reviews
Palm Springs City Council tackled Mayor Pro Tem Paul Lewin’s proposed probe into the city’s land sales and economic incentive programs at Wednesday night’s meeting.
Mayor Steve Pougnet was absent from the meeting, reportedly due to a family emergency.
The discussion on land sale transactions and economic grants consisted of 40-page PowerPoint presentation, touting the successes of both programs.
First, the city’s financial adviser Suzanne Harrell talked in detail about the history and process of selling redevelopment agency land.
The city has 12 parcels that it must sell quickly and in a way that maximizes value, following the dissolution of redevelopment agencies by Governor Jerry Brown.
Harrell defended the prices at which the city-owned parcels are sold, saying all the transactions are approved by the California Department of Finance.
After Harrell’s presentation, which was aided by City Manager David Ready and Director of Economic Development John Raymond, the staff recommended an outside law firm in Los Angleles (Kane, Ballmer and Berkman) to review the city’s land transaction and Long-Range Property Management Plan.
That motion passed unanimously.
Then, Ready took the stage and offered background on the city’s economic incentive programs since 2008.
Ready said the programs have been extremely successful in generating millions of dollars in tax revenue, but added that a recent city review of the program’s invoice system found some issues with verification of payments to contractors. A recent News Channel 3 investigation uncovered a similar issue.
Ready said this aspect of the economic incentive process has since been re-evaluated and modified. He then recommended the council to hire an outside expert, one that hasn’t been determined yet, to audit the incentive payments.
That motion also passed unanimously.
The estimated cost for these reviews is between $20,000-$60,000 according to Ready, and a budget for the probe is expected to be presented at the next city council meeting.
