News-Press Editorial: Worthy pursuit of the state’s obligations

In what seems to us an unconscionable attempt to rob the city of Glendale in order to plump the currently flush state coffers, the California Department of Finance is balking at repaying upward of $40 million in loans and interest our city is still owed from the redevelopment agency quagmire of a few years ago.

Like many other cities, for about four decades, Glendale made loans through its Redevelopment Agency for revitalization projects that were to be repaid through property taxes. All went as according to plan until the cash-strapped state in 2011 halted the redevelopment program and let those loans go unrepaid.

This understandably raised the hackles of city halls up and down the Golden State. So a year later, a new law was enacted that would facilitate returning the funds to the affected municipalities. Glendale officials immediately laid claim to this city’s share, filling out the necessary paperwork and, in 2013, gained approval from the state finance department to reinstate the loans.

It was apparently a false promise on the state’s part, as nary a check has been received since then. Worse, the state tried to cheat the city by arguing that Glendale shouldn’t be allowed to use historical interest rates that were far higher at the time the loans originated than they are today. A judge ruled in Glendale’s favor last year, saying the higher rates had to be applied.

But wait! There were more arguments in the state’s arsenal. Most recently, the excuse given for not paying Glendale back is the state’s position that some of the city’s loans were not “enforceable obligations” and lacked required documentation.

So, Glendale is back in court, asking simply for what it’s owed, fair and square, an amount that comes to about $3 million a year from the state. As the city manager points out, that isn’t a dire situation for the general fund to be in, but it does threaten the city’s ability to provide services such as after-school programs, road repairs and homeless assistance.

We have to ask: How many hoops do our city officials have to jump through — and how much money must be spent on legal costs that are no doubt passed on to California’s taxpayers — to receive from the state what rightfully belongs here?