MOORPARK : Accord Reached in Redevelopment Case

The Moorpark City Council has reached agreement with three of the four agencies that sued the city three years ago over a plan for spending future property taxes to rehabilitate the older downtown area, officials said.

In a joint meeting Wednesday, the council and the board of the Moorpark Unified School District ironed out the final details of an agreement for dividing future increases in property tax revenues in the area slated for redevelopment.

Moorpark officials have also reached agreements with Ventura County and the Moorpark Mosquito Abatement District, Councilman Scott Montgomery said. The county’s community college district also sued the city over the redevelopment proposal.

Moorpark’s initial redevelopment plan called for the city to spend up to $320 million over the next 45 years to rehabilitate a 1,217-acre section in the center of town. The money would come from any increases in property taxes in that neighborhood after 1989.

The four agencies sued the city in 1989, claiming the redevelopment plan denied them their fair share of future property tax revenues.

To settle the suits, the city has offered to keep only $180 million for redevelopment and to divide the other $140 million among the four agencies. The Ventura County Community College District is reviewing the offer.

The Moorpark school district will get an estimated $35.9 million of the future tax revenues. In addition, during Wednesday’s meeting, city officials agreed to spend $750,000 in redevelopment funds to build a new maintenance building for the school district, Montgomery said.