Redevelopment Agency Created to Boost Business in La Puente

For the past three years, the city has suffered from a steady decline in sales tax revenues.

Hoping to reverse that trend, the City Council has voted to form a redevelopment agency, which will hold its first meeting in a month.

In the past, La Puente “didn’t have the financial capability to provide assistance” to businesses in the area, said Community Development Director Rick Hartmann. “We were unable to work with property owners to upgrade or purchase adjacent property. Businesses were leaving.”

The council “realized (a redevelopment agency is) a necessary step to take to keep the city prosperous,” he said.

The agency can increase the city’s economy through its power to declare eminent domain, solicit business loans, sell bonds, collect increments of property taxes and help businesses relocate. The City Council appointed itself as the redevelopment agency’s board of directors, which will work for the next 10 months on drafting a plan with Hartmann and redevelopment and marketing consultants.