Successor Agency
OVERVIEW
On February 1, 2012, the City of Santa Maria Redevelopment Agency (RDA) was officially dissolved. This was a result of Assembly Bill X1 26 (Blumenfield)(“AB 26”), signed by the Governor on June 28, 2011 and confirmed by the Supreme Court (California Redevelopment Association, et al. v. Matosantos, et al. (Case No. S194861)) on December 29, 2011. For a history of RDAs and their dissolution, read "Unwinding Redevelopment“ written by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Upon dissolution of RDAs statewide, Successor Agencies were formed to wind down the former redevelopment agency functions. On January 17, 2012, consistent with the provisions of AB 26, the Santa Maria City Council elected to become the Successor Agency for its dissolved RDA, by adopting Resolution No. 2012-01. Also at the January 17, 2012 meeting, the Santa Maria City Council adopted Resolution 2012-07 confirming the Council’s decision to transfer any and all local affordable housing assets and functions to the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara.
The City of Santa Maria’s RDA was created in May 1959, and the last project was built in 1993. The City is in the last few years of paying off debt service on the multi-level parking structures at the Town Center East. The RDA was responsible for some of the largest civic projects in the City’s history. These redevelopment projects include affordable housing at Union Plaza and Central Plaza, commercial development and affordable housing at Peppertree Plaza, and redeveloping the aging downtown core into the Town Center East (the mall) and Town Center West shopping center.
FUNCTIONS
In general, all of the assets, properties, contracts, leases and records of the former RDA are to be transferred to the Successor Agency. The Successor Agency is in turn, responsible for overseeing and winding down the remaining legal and contractual obligations ("enforceable obligations") of the agency. Per Health and Safety Code § 34177, successor agencies are required to do all of the following:
- Continue to make payments due for enforceable obligations;
- Maintain reserves in the amount required by indentures, trust indentures, or similar documents governing the issuance of outstanding redevelopment agency bonds;
- Perform obligations required pursuant to any enforceable obligation;
- Remit unencumbered balances of redevelopment agency funds to the County Auditor-Controller for distribution to the taxing entities;
- Dispose of assets and properties of the former redevelopment agency as directed by the oversight board;
- Enforce all former redevelopment agency rights for the benefit of the taxing entities, including, but not limited to, continuing to collect loans, rents, and other revenues that were due to the redevelopment agency;
- Effectuate transfer of housing functions and assets to the appropriate entity designated pursuant to Health and Safety Code § 34176;
- Expeditiously wind down the affairs of the redevelopment agency pursuant to the provisions of Part 1.85 of the Health and Safety Code and in accordance with the direction of the oversight board;
- Continue to oversee development of properties until the contracted work has been completed or the contractual obligations of the former redevelopment agency can be transferred to other parties;
- Prepare a proposed administrative budget and submit it to the oversight board for its approval; and
- Provide administrative cost estimates, from its approved administrative budget that are to be paid from property tax revenues deposited in the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, to the County auditor-controller for each six-month fiscal period.
ACTIONS
Enforceable Obligation Payment Schedule
At the March 6, 2012 meeting, the Santa Maria City Council adopted Resolution No. SA-2012-01 appointing two members to the Redevelopment Dissolution Oversight Board.
At the March 6, 2012 meeting, the Santa Maria City Council, acting as the Successor Agency, adopted Resolution SA-2012-02, ratifying its Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS) for the period of February 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012.
OVERSIGHT BOARD
Each Successor Agency is subject to oversight from an Oversight Board which has fiduciary responsibilities to the holders of enforceable obligations and the taxing entities that benefit from distributions of property tax and other revenue. The Oversight Board’s specific duties are to approve certain Successor Agency actions pursuant to Health and Safety Code §34180 and §34181. Click to see the OVERSIGHT BOARD OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY and its actions.