Where Did South Pasadena's Redevelopment Money Go?

By Jennifer Squires and Dan Abendschein

More than $80 million once dedicated to local Redevelopment Agencies has instead flowed into accounts of public entities in L.A. County since Gov. Jerry Brown abolished Redevelopment Agencies two years ago, including more than $1.26 million to agencies affiliated with South Pasadena.

That's according to data from the state Department of Finance published by the Los Angeles News Group in an interactive database that can be used to track money across the county and state (accompanying story here).  

According to H.D. Palmer of the State Department of Finance, the figures for each city in the report represent the amount of money leftover after paying out existing debts left behind by each redevelopment agency - so in South Pasadena's case the $1.26 million is not the full extent of what the city's former redevelopment agency would have received, but the net revenues after paying out those debts.

The end of Redevelopment Agencies was fraught with controversy. Many cities lobbied hard to maintain the agencies because the organizations helped cities draw in new businesses through loans and tax breaks, while supporting existing stores and industry through beautification projects and infrastructure improvements.

Redevelopment agencies financed their activities through a share of the increases in property tax realized over the life of a project area, money that is now being divided among other public entities.

Statewide, $4 billion was to redirected cities, the county, schools and special districts when Redevelopment ended. The state Department of Finance released a report earlier this month detailing where the monies had been sent.

The money breaks into seveen categories: money given to city governments, the county government, local school districts, other local governmental districts, the county education office, community college districts and the state's Education Revenue Augmentation Fund, which is used for additional school funding collected from local property taxes.

The graphic above shows the state's accounting of where South Pasadena's forfeited $1,266,256.85 in redevelopment money was redistributed.

Editor's note: The above article has been updated with further explanation of the figures from the California Department of Finance.