HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—The City of Huntington Beach will be repaid $5.2 million after a California Superior Court judge ruled against the state’s Department of Finance on a redevelopment agency loan.
The city sued the State for just over $75 million in 2018 regarding a number of loans attained through the state’s development agency, which provided dollar matching funds to cities to upgrade blighted commercial and residential properties.
After upgrading properties, Sacramento leaders ended local redevelopment agencies in 2011 due to how expensive it was, leaving millions of dollars unpaid to participating cities, including Huntington Beach.
“The State eliminated redevelopment to reallocate and capture money set aside for cities to revitalize their communities in order to fix the State’s ailing budget,” the lawsuit reads. “Petitioners followed the [state’s redevelopment laws] to assist in revitalizing blighted areas of the City. In doing so, the City has for many years now been carrying the State’s debt.”
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