Turlock City Council mulls successor to redevelopment agency

TURLOCK -- Much of the future of redevelopment remains a mystery, but while authorities sort it all out, work must be done and bills paid.

To that end, the Turlock City Council on Tuesday night will consider appointing a "successor agency" to its redevelopment agency.

"The function is to pay out the legal obligations of the agency and wind down the agency," Economic Development Manager Heidi McNally-Dial said.

The state Supreme Court has sided with the state Legislature's decision last year to abolish redevelopment agencies, which use money from property taxes for projects such as low-income housing and sidewalk construction. The court also struck down another law that allowed redevelopment agencies to stay in business if they issued "voluntary" payments to the state.

"The decision makes this the only option," McNally-Dial said.

The successor agency will be governed by a seven-member board: an appointment from Mayor John Lazar, an appointment from the Board of Supervisors, a representative of the Turlock Unified School District, someone from the office of county Superintendent of Schools Tom Chagnon, a representative of the Yosemite Community College chancellor, a member of the public appointed by the Board of Supervisors and an employee of the former redevelopment agency.

Currently, the City Council sits as the redevelopment agency.

The cities of Hughson and Waterford will take up the issue at their upcoming meetings, Hughson on Monday and Waterford on Jan. 19.

"This will forfeit an invaluable job- creating, infrastructure and housing development financial tool, and the process of its dissolution will be very time consuming and costly to the city," Waterford City Manager Tim Ogden wrote in a newsletter.

Some of the money that funded redevelopment agencies will come back to the cities; it's not clear yet how much that will be.

City officials from throughout the state have pledged to work with the Legislature on a compromise to retain some of the power locally. Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour said last week that the priority is to protect local jobs, both those at the city and construction and other work funded through redevelopment projects.

State law requires the new successor agency be in place by Feb. 1, when redevelopment agencies as they are cease to exist. That's a quick timeline, moved up by the court from the original October date the Legislature set.

McNally-Dial said city and state officials are talking about expanding that timeline.

"We're still trying to figure out how much this means in terms of money and what it means in terms of what we need to have done when," she said. "It puts the city in a difficult situation in terms of our budget."

Nearly every day, the League of California Cities — whose lawsuit against the state led to the court decision — sends new information on the issue to its members.

"It's going to take a while to get everything straightened out," McNally-Dial said. "It's like, 'Stay tuned.' "

The Turlock City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 156 S. Broadway.

Bee staff writer Patty Guerra can be reached at pguerra@modbee.com or (209) 578-2343.