The Hollister Redevelopment Agency’s project list just got a
whole lot shorter after state officials announced that they will
take millions from local governments in an effort to shore up a
multi-billion-dollar budget gap.
By Adam Breen
The Hollister Redevelopment Agency’s project list just got a whole lot shorter after state officials announced that they will take millions from local governments in an effort to shore up a multi-billion-dollar budget gap.
The most noticeable impact of the shift of tax revenue from local to state coffers will be in planned local projects that could fall by the wayside, including the RDA’s offer to offer low- or no-interest loans for a new YMCA site and expansion of Gavilan College classrooms downtown.
Avera said RDA projects already under way, such as the demolition of the former Leatherback property as well as the West Gateway streetscape project and Fire Station No. 1 refurbishment, will continue as planned, since funding for them has already been committed.
“I want to say it’ll be in the neighborhood of just under $5 million, including this year’s and next year’s ERAF [Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund] shifts,” said William Avera, Hollister’s development services director. “It has a huge impact.”
In the early 1990s, the state modified its property tax allocation system to direct a larger share of property tax revenues to schools, reducing state funding of education, according to the California State Association of Counties (CSAC). The property taxes shifted to schools from cities, counties and special districts totals more than $5 billion each year, CSAC says.
The additional amount of money that the state plans to take from local entities by March of 2010 will not be repaid, according to Avera.
“They’re just taking it.”
Avera said the RDA has roughly the amount of money the state is expected to take in its reserves, “but it was earmarked for a lot of projects and programs. If we end up losing that money to the state, a lot of that stuff will end up going away.”
Other threatened projects include redevelopment of the 400 block property at the southwest corner of Fourth and San Benito streets near the Briggs Building parking structure and planned improvements to the Rancho San Justo Sports Complex.
For the full story, see the Pinnacle on Friday.
