SB 450

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Community Redevelopment Law requires that each redevelopment agency submit the final report of any audit undertaken by any other local, state, or federal government entity to its legislative body and to additionally present an annual report to the legislative body containing specified information. This bill would require the agency to include additional information relating to any major audit violations, as defined, any corrections to those violations, and planning and general administrative expenses of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. The bill would authorize the Controller to conduct quality control reviews of independent financial audit reports and require the Controller to publish the results of his or her reviews. The Controller would be required to comply with certain notification and referral provisions in the event that the audit was conducted in a manner that may constitute unprofessional conduct. The bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct audits of redevelopment agencies to ensure compliance with the housing provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law. The bill would require each agency to annually deposit 0.05% of any tax increment deposited into the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund into the Redevelopment Agency Accountability Fund, which the bill would create, to fund the department audits. (2) Existing law requires that funds used for purposes of increasing, improving, and preserving a community's supply of low- and moderate-income housing be held in a separate Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund until used. Existing law limits the planning and general administrative costs which may be paid with moneys from the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. The bill would revise the costs and expenses which may be considered planning and general administrative costs for the purposes of being paid from the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. Except as provided, the bill would prohibit an agency from expending more than 15% of the tax increment deposited in the fund for planning and general administrative costs. The bill would impose other reporting and accountability measures on agencies with respect to the use of moneys in the fund for planning and administrative purposes. The bill would revise various provisions governing an action to compel agency compliance with specified provisions. (3) Existing law requires, except as specified, each agency to expend over each 10-year period of the implementation plan, the moneys in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund to assist housing for persons of moderate, low, and very low income according to specified calculations. The bill would instead require that at least 75% of the agency's expenditures from the fund directly assist the new construction, acquisition and substantial rehabilitation, or preservation of housing for persons of extremely low, very low, low, or moderate income, with at least 25% of the expenditures required to be directed towards housing for persons of extremely low income and at least 50% of the expenditures required to be directed towards housing for persons of very low income. (4) Existing law authorizes a redevelopment agency to merge project areas under its jurisdiction, and requires that at least 20% of specified taxes allocated to the redevelopment agency be deposited into the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund to assist in the construction or rehabilitation of housing units for very low, and low- and moderate-income households, as specified. Existing law requires that if those funds have not been committed for that purpose within 6 years, the agency shall offer the funds to the housing authority that operates within the jurisdiction of the agency, as specified. This bill would delete the requirement that the funds be offered to the housing authority. (5) Existing law requires an agency that has failed to expend or encumber excess surplus in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund within one year to disburse the surplus voluntarily to the appropriate county housing authority or another public agency or to expend or encumber the surplus within 2 additional years. The bill would delete these provisions. The bill would modify the definition of the term "excess surplus." (6) Existing law provides that whenever low- or moderate-income housing dwelling units are destroyed or removed from the low- and moderate-income housing market as part of a redevelopment that is subject to a written agreement with the agency, or where financial assistance has been provided by the agency, the agency is required to provide replacement housing within 4 years of the destruction or removal. The bill would modify the agency's obligation to provide replacement housing to low- or moderate-income persons and families and would impose new requirements on the agency with respect to the replacement housing plan and housing specifications. If a court has found that an agency has failed to comply with these provisions, the bill would require the court, at a minimum, to issue an order temporarily prohibiting the agency from issuing any debt for any project area, except as specified.