Audit: $5.5B In Calif. Redevelopment Funds Hard To Trace
SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) — An audit by the state controller's office has found that a lack of fiscal transparency in California's redevelopment agencies in California could be costing state taxpayers billions in wasted funds.
Controller John Chiang says a new report released Monday suggests these agencies do not have a way to show how well they are fighting blight or creating jobs.
Chiang calls the report troubling because redevelopment costs taxpayers $5.5 billion annually.
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to eliminate the state's more than 400 redevelopment agencies to send more local tax money to schools, police, fire and other local services.
Local governments are defending the agencies and say Brown's plan is illegal.
San Francisco political columnist Phil Matier tells KNX 1070 the fight over redevelopment agency funding comes as Brown readies for a looming deadline for state lawmakers to close California's $25 billion budget gap.
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The 18 agencies subject to the audit represent 16 percent of redevelopment dollars.
The review showed great differences in how cities define blight.
Palm Desert, for example, used redevelopment money to renovate greens and bunkers at a 4.5 star golf resort.
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