BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 26XXXX
          Author:   Ducheny (D)
          Amended:  7/23/09 
          Vote:     27 - Urgency

           
           SENATE FLOOR  :  Not relevant

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Not available 


           SUBJECT  :    Budget Act of 2009:  community redevelopment 

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :     Assembly Amendments  delete the prior version of  
          the bill expressing the intent of the Legislature to enact  
          statutory changes relating to the 2009 Budget Act.  

          This bill now provides the necessary statutory changes in  
          the area of community redevelopment in order to amend the  
          2009 Budget Act.

           ANALYSIS  :    This bill shifts $1.7 billion in redevelopment  
          revenues to the Supplemental Educational Revenue  
          Augmentation Fund in 2009-10, thereby benefiting the State  
          General Fund.  An additional $350 million is shifted in  
          2010-11.  Complying redevelopment agencies receive a  
          one-year extension for the 2009-10 shift.

           Background
           
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          The California Constitution permits, and the Community  
          Redevelopment Law provides procedures for, redevelopment  
          agencies to divert property tax increment revenues to pay  
          for implementing redevelopment plans that eradicate blight.  
           Redevelopment agencies adopt redevelopment plans for their  
          project areas and they incur debt to finance their efforts.  
           The property tax increment revenues generated in a  
          redevelopment project area repay the redevelopment  
          agencies' debts.  There are statutory time limits on  
          redevelopment plans' effectiveness and time limits for the  
          redevelopment agencies to receive property tax increment  
          revenues.

          Proposed law:

          For the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years, this bill  
          requires a redevelopment agency to remit a calculated  
          amount of money to the county auditor for deposit in the  
          new Supplemental Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund  
          (SERAF).

          The State Director of Finance must determine each  
          redevelopment agency's amount, following a nine-step  
          calculation that considers the agency's proportionate share  
          of $1,700,000,000 in 2009-10 and $350,000,000 in 2010-11.   
          Half of an agency's proportionate share is based on an  
          agency's net property tax increment revenues while the  
          other half is based on the total property tax increment  
          revenues.

          By November 15 of each fiscal year, the Director of Finance  
          must notify each redevelopment agency, its legislative  
          body, and each county auditor of these amounts.  By March 1  
          of each fiscal year, the redevelopment agency must tell the  
          county auditor how it intends to fund its allocation to  
          SERAF.  By May 10 of each fiscal year, a redevelopment  
          agency must remit its amount to the county auditor.  The  
          county auditors must deposit the money into SERAF.

          This bill allows a redevelopment agency to allocate less  
          than the required amount to SERAF if it adopts a resolution  
          documenting that it needs the money to make payments on  
          other, existing debts.


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          The bill declares that these allocations to SERAF are an  
          indebtedness of the redevelopment project area to which  
          they relate, payable from the agency's property tax  
          increment revenues, and an indebtedness of the agency until  
          paid in full.  The bill also makes legislative findings and  
          declarations in support of its provisions.

          The SERAF funds are allocated to K-12 school districts or  
          county offices of education that are partially, or  
          entirely, within each redevelopment project area in  
          proportion to the average daily attendance of each school  
          district.  The school districts and county offices of  
          education receiving funds under this section shall  
          distribute the fund to schools serving pupils living in the  
          redevelopment project areas or in housing supported by  
          redevelopment agency funds.  The allocation to schools  
          within or nearby each redevelopment agency addresses the  
          issues raised in an adverse court ruling related to the  
          2008-09 shift.  The Sacramento Superior Court in  California  
          Redevelopment Association v. Genest  invalidated the 2008-09  
          shift on the basis that the funds were to be transferred to  
          the county ERAFs for countywide education funding without  
          any specific linkage to the redevelopment projects or  
          areas.

          This bill reduces the amount of property tax otherwise  
          received by school districts by an amount equivalent to the  
          SERAF transfer.  The property tax otherwise received by  
          schools is deposited in the new Supplemental Revenue  
          Augmentation Fund (SRAF), which is created in associated  
          legislation in the budget package.  The SRAF provides a  
          mechanism for State General Fund relief because SRAF funds  
          are expended, as directed by the Director of Finance, to  
          reimburse the State General Fund for state expenditures in  
          that county for health care, trial court, correctional, or  
          other services and costs.  The Director of Finance may also  
          direct SRAF funds back to school districts and county  
          offices of education to offset State General Fund  
          expenditures.  

          For just 2009-10, this bill suspends the Community  
          Redevelopment Law's existing requirement that each  
          redevelopment agency must set aside 20 percent of its gross  
          property tax increment revenues in a Low and Moderate  

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          Income Housing Fund.  Any amount suspended must be repaid  
          by June 30, 2015.  

          This bill allows a redevelopment agency to borrow from its  
          Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund in both 2009-10 and  
          2010-11.  The bill requires a redevelopment agency to repay  
          those amounts borrowed in each fiscal years by June 30,  
          2015, and June 30, 2016, respectively.

          For a redevelopment agency that allocates its full  
          proportionate share to the county auditor for deposit in  
          SERAF in 2009-10, this bill gives a one-year extension of  
          time on the effectiveness of the agency's redevelopment  
          plans and on the time for the agency to receive property  
          tax increment revenues.

          For an agency that does not allocate its full proportionate  
          share, the bill permanently increases the amount of  
          property tax increment revenues that the agency must set  
          aside in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund by five  
          percent.

           FISCAL EFFECT :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          DLW:nl  7/23/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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