By Khalida Sarwari
The San Jose City Council designated the city the successor agency to its redevelopment agency Tuesday and moved to implement a dissolution plan ahead of the Feb. 1 state deadline.
San Jose is one of hundreds of cities across California contending with the end of redevelopment agencies by the state as directed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who proposed the idea last year in favor of diverting redevelopment revenue instead to schools, public safety, and to help close the state’s budget deficit.
The council’s action was in response to a state Supreme Court ruling in December to uphold the state Legislature’s vote to dissolve the agencies by Feb. 1.
Tuesday’s council action tasked the city with handling outstanding debt and obligations, disposing of any remaining assets, and redistributing revenues to other taxing entities in the 21 redevelopment project areas.
Reed has said that the city’s investment of billions of dollars into its redevelopment agency has led to the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, a remodeled downtown, thousands of new housing units, and renovated neighborhoods that had previously been blighted.
“We’re going to give up a lot in the way of tools and the ability to do things,” he said.
On Tuesday, Reed called the state’s decision to end the agencies a “big mistake.”
“Nevertheless, the state makes the rules and we’re in the process of implementing those rules,” Reed said.
