The Hollister City Council on Monday voted unanimously to keep
the option open of continuing on with a redevelopment agency and
opting in to the state’s new guidelines, which involve paying
millions of dollars to other public entities.
The Hollister City Council on Monday voted unanimously to keep the option open of continuing on with a redevelopment agency and opting in to the state’s new guidelines, which involve paying millions of dollars to other public entities.
Council members voted 5-0 in favor of keeping the option open for Hollister.
The state budget calls for dissolving RDAs but allowing the 425 municipalities using them to continue on under an alternative program.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a state budget in late June that includes largely eliminating the RDA program with hopes of saving $1.7 billion this fiscal year. Once he signed the document, local governments no longer could enter into contracts or make commitments.
Part of the holdup for cities such as Hollister in fully committing to the new RDA program is that the California Redevelopment Association is heading up legal action against the state for the move to largely cancel the agencies. At this point it is unclear how that might be resolved.
For Hollister, opting in for the new RDA program would involve paying close to $4 million in a one-time fee, and then about $950,000 annually after that, officials noted at Monday’s meeting.
If the city does opt in, it could pay the $4 million or so fee by having the state simply withhold $2 million per year, for two years, in housing funds.
