FOUNTAIN VALLEY : City to Pay State but Under Protest
The City Council this week agreed to pay nearly $1 million in redevelopment funds to the state by early May but to protest the payment as possibly unconstitutional.
“The state basically has us at gunpoint,” said Mayor Laurann Cook. “You pay it or else--that’s basically robbery.”
In order to help balance its own budget, the state has required local redevelopment agencies to turn over a portion of their funds, which are used by local governments to promote new development and revitalize the community. The state will then give the funds to school districts and community college districts statewide.
The Fountain Valley Agency for Community Development is required to pay $999,246, of which nearly $150,000 is from the City Center redevelopment project near Slater Avenue and Brookhurst Street. The rest is from the industrial redevelopment project area at the east end of the city.
Cook said that if the city does not make the payment, the state could withhold the city’s property tax revenue or go after general fund money.
“It’s certainly not worth jeopardizing our general funds,” Cook said.
The city plans to make the payment on May 10, the day it is due. But the council agreed that the city attach a letter that the payment is being made under protest.
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