Sacramento grabs $1 million in Barstow RDA funds
BARSTOW • The state clawed back money from former redevelopment agencies across the state, grabbing $1,098,213 from the former Barstow Redevelopment Agency.
That’s about $48 per resident of Barstow, according to U.S. Census population figures for the city. By comparison, the city’s has budgeted $17.75 million for the entire 2012-13 fiscal year.
Since the city of Barstow, like many other cities, designated itself as the successor agency to the redevelopment agency, the funds will come out of city reserves containing the funds that the redevelopment agency once took in from property tax increments.
The city sent the check by overnight mail to the county before the July 12 deadline, spokesperson Anthony Riley said by email. The county will then forward the money to the state. The state used the redevelopment agency’s Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule — a report the Redevelopment Agency Oversight Board filed with the state in May — to calculate the amount due, Riley said in the email. Riley did not respond to further questions about the payment, and Finance Director Cindy Prothro was on vacation Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.
For other cities, the payment was not so smooth. Costa Mesa’s city council approved its payment “under protest,” one of the city’s attorneys said, according to news reports. But Barstow did not appear to take issue with the payment.
A recently-passed state law, AB 1484, allowed the state to take back the funds. The law allows the state to withhold sales tax revenues from local governments if they do not comply with the directive.
