Correcting an Omission
State redevelopment law specifies how communities must spend 20% of the revenues that result from increases in property taxes assessed against new developments in redevelopment areas. The money must be set aside for low- or moderate-income housing. A number of communities ignore that section of the law or skirt it by building housing that is affordable for young professionals and senior citizens but is well beyond the reach of very poor families. A bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) would correct the omission.
The measure, AB 2080, would set new redevelopment policy. Communities that benefit from redevelopment would be directed to use housing funds in proportion to the need in an area. If the greatest need is for modest apartments for poor families--as it is in Southern California--most of the funds would be spent on that kind of housing.
The bill, which is expected to come before the Senate late this week, would also require redevelopment agencies to replace 75% of the housing destroyed by new development. The lost housing would be replaced with similarly affordable housing. That is an important requirement.
Replacement based on affordability would prevent redevelopment agencies from replacing a large apartment that rents for $350 a month and is affordable for a family living on welfare or the minimum wage with a smaller apartment that rents for $650 a month and is affordable for a single person earning what is considered a moderate income, as high as $32,000 in Los Angeles.
The new requirement would slow the disappearance of housing at the lowest end of the market. Redevelopment agencies anticipate displacing 1,364 households statewide over the next fiscal year, and 76% of those families would be classified as low or very low income. That type of housing is needed most critically, and it is hardest to replace.
The replacement provision tied to affordability is also important because of the large gap between moderate and very low income. In Los Angeles County, moderate income is as high as $45,600 for a family of four; very low income for a similar family is put at $19,950. In Orange County, moderate income is even higher, $56,300 for a family of four; very low income for the same size family is set at $23,450, based on federal poverty standards. What really counts, however, is how much families can afford to pay for housing, and if decent housing is available.
Redevelopment, in essence, removes slums and blight. That task can be accomplished without shrinking the availability of very-low-income housing. The Waters bill would direct cities that enjoy the benefits of commercial redevelopment to spend the housing money where it belongs, that is, where the housing needs are the greatest. The measure merits passage.
