The State Department of Finance has questioned certain funding obligations scheduled by the city while acting as the redevelopment successor agency.
Hollister council members Tuesday will consider a status report and resolution related to the mandatory, annual “recognized obligation payment schedule” that the city must submit to the state. It is required annually in light of the 2011 dissolution of RDAs throughout the state and acts as the anticipated payment schedule for leftover obligations.
Hollister is among the municipalities with a former RDA, which still requires administrative support even though it can no longer create new financial obligations, such as a new project.
The item before council members Tuesday details discrepancies underlined by the state regarding the city’s attempt to classify certain costs in the payment schedule. Council members at the 6:30 p.m. meeting at Hollister City Hall are set to hear an update on those communications with the state and approve the resolution to approve the payment schedule for 2013-14.
Some of the funding designations questioned by the state in recent months include the city’s inclusion of several items as “enforceable obligations” including an ongoing obligation of $84,000 each year for Section 8 housing, operational costs for January 2012 of nearly $300,000, and project management costs to monitor affordable housing totaling about $210,000 per year.
City staff officials noted in the agenda item that other successor agencies would be challenging the same project management denial in the courts, and recommended council members support those efforts.
