BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1033
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Date of Hearing: June 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
SB 1033 (Torres) - As Introduced: February 14, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 34-0
SUBJECT : Land use: local planning: housing elements.
SUMMARY : Replaces housing element law references to
"redevelopment housing funds" with "housing successor agency
funds."
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires redevelopment agencies (RDAs) to dissolve effective
February 1, 2012, pursuant to the California Supreme Court's
decision in CRA v. Matosantos (2011).
2)Establishes successor agencies to RDAs that would, except in
certain situations, be the city, county, or city and county in
the territorial jurisdiction of the former RDA. If no local
agency elects to be the successor agency, a designated local
authority is to be formed with three members appointed by the
Governor.
3)Requires successor agencies to transfer a former RDA's housing
assets and functions to "housing successors." Housing
successors retain the housing assets, functions, and powers
previously performed by an RDA, excluding any enforceable
obligations retained by the successor agency.
4)Provides that the city, county, or city and county within the
territorial jurisdiction of the former RDA may elect to act as
the housing successor. If they do not elect to act as the
housing successor, then the local housing authority is
required to act as the housing successor. If there is no
local housing authority, then the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD) acts as the housing successor.
5)Provides that housing successors may, amongst other things,
enforce affordability covenants and perform related activities
pursuant to applicable provisions of Community Redevelopment
Law (CRL).
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6)Requires a jurisdiction's housing element to identify and
analyze existing and projected housing needs, identify
adequate sites with appropriate zoning to meet the housing
needs
of all income segments of the community, and ensure that
regulatory systems provide opportunities for, and do not
unduly constrain, housing development.
7)Requires, prior to each housing element revision, that each
council of governments (COG), in conjunction with HCD, prepare
a regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) and allocate to
each jurisdiction in the region its fair share of the housing
need for all income categories.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Redevelopment agency dissolution . Historically, the Community
Redevelopment Law allowed a local government to establish a
redevelopment area and capture all of the increase in property
taxes generated within the area (referred to as "tax
increment") over a period of decades. The law required RDAs
to deposit 20% of tax increment into a Low and Moderate Income
Housing Fund (L&M fund) to be used to increase, improve, and
preserve the community's supply of low- and moderate-income
housing available at an affordable housing cost.
In 2011, as a result of serious budget shortfalls, the
Governor proposed eliminating RDAs and creating a Voluntary
Alternative Redevelopment Program (VARP) to replace them. Two
pieces of budget trailer legislation, AB1X 26 (Chapter 5,
Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session) and AB1X 27
(Chapter 6, Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session),
were enacted to achieve this goal. AB1X 26 provided for the
dissolution of RDAs and for the winding up of their
obligations by successor agencies. AB1X 27 established VARP,
which would have allowed RDAs to continue operations if their
local city or county made voluntary annual payments
benefitting schools, for the purpose of offsetting state
education costs. In CRA v. Matosantos (2011), the California
Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of AB1X 26, but
invalidated AB1X 27. This had the effect of dissolving RDAs
without giving them the option of continuing operations by
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offsetting state education costs. As a result, all of the
state's roughly 400 redevelopment agencies dissolved on
February 1, 2012.
2)Purpose of this bill . The housing element describes a city's
or county's housing goals, the programs it will administer to
achieve those goals, and the resources that it has and will
use to implement those programs. With the demise of
redevelopment, there are no redevelopment tax increment funds
available for housing purposes, but housing successor agencies
do receive limited program income from outstanding loans
originally made by their communities' redevelopment agencies.
This bill updates housing element law references to
redevelopment agency housing funds with a reference to housing
successor agency funds. This bill is author-sponsored.
3)Author's statement . According to the author, "This bill
updates housing element law to replace references to
redevelopment agency housing resources with references to
housing successor agency resources. The Planning and Zoning
Law requires a city or county to prepare and adopt a
comprehensive, long-term general plan, and requires the
general plan to include specified, mandatory elements,
including a housing element. That law requires the housing
element, in turn, to contain, among other items, an
identification and analysis of existing and projected housing
needs and a statement of goals, policies, quantified
objectives, financial resources, and scheduled programs for
the preservation, improvement, and development of housing."
4)Arguments in support . None on file.
5)Arguments in opposition . None on file.
6)Double-referral . This bill was heard by the Housing and
Community Development Committee on June 18, 2014, where it
passed with a 6-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Misa Yokoi-Shelton / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958