STANTON : Redevelopment Funding Uncertain

After a 17% drop in revenue this fiscal year, it is uncertain how well the city’s Redevelopment Agency can continue to fund projects.

The agency is building a $5-million Civic Center on Katella Avenue. It also gave $135,000 to the Smith’s Food & Drug Center that opened in August at the intersection of Katella Avenue and Beach Boulevard.

“With the state budget cuts, it puts in doubt what we’ll be able to do in the future,” said agency fiscal officer John Hartman.

The agency receives all of its money--nearly $1.5 million in the 1991-92 fiscal year--from property taxes.

The agency staff will present its yearly report at today’s meeting, which starts at 6:15 p.m. The staff will report on its achievements from July, 1991, through June, 1992. It will also lay out goals and objectives for the current fiscal year.

The agency now has about $4.3 million in its fund and is projecting revenues of about $1.6 million for the current fiscal year.

Park Stanton Place, a 335-unit, affordable-housing project for senior citizens, is the largest future project.

The agency helped secure $17.7 million in bonds for the developer and has agreed to make a $500,000 loan when construction begins sometime this year.

The agency is required to spend 20% of its revenues on affordable housing.

The agency also plans to develop a spending strategy for housing, economic development and capital improvements.

The agency was established in 1979 and has defined about 20% of the city as ripe for redevelopment, mostly along Beach Boulevard and Katella Avenue.

The Home Base Center and Pace Center on Beach Boulevard were developed with agency help, as was the CR&R; Transfer Station, where the city’s garbage is processed.