$24 million Property Give Away
Posted by Newsletter Reprint on July 20, 2013
This just came across the wire from Redevelopment Oversight Committee Board Member Phil Yarbrough:
$24 million Property Give Away
City of Orange officials have asked the Redevelopment Oversight Committee to approve granting 23 properties purchased for $23,899,161 by the former Redevelopment Agency to the City of Orange without any reimbursement or compensation. Eight of these properties were originally owned by the City of Orange and sold to their Redevelopment Agency for $16,195,000. The Redevelopment Agency sold bonds to purchase these properties from the City of Orange and others, bonds which must be repaid by taxes imposed upon the residents of Orange.
“This is tantamount to me selling you a car, then asking you to give me back the car for free and sticking you with the bill”. “Rational people would not agree to do this, neither should the taxpayers of Orange.” says Phil Yarbrough, Board Member of the City of Orange Redevelopment Oversight.
Mr. Yarbrough will be asked to vote in favor of the City’s request to grant these properties to them on Wednesday night. “I won’t vote in favor of this, no reasonable person would”.
“This makes absolutely no sense, unless you are the City of Orange.” says Mr. Yarbrough. “The City already spent the $16 million that they were paid for these properties. Now they have the audacity to ask we give these properties back to them for free, and the residents of Orange get stuck with the bill. I don’t expect this type of hubris, even from government.”
The Oversight Board of the Successor Agency to the Orange Redevelopment Agency meets to vote on granting these properties on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at Orange City Hall, Weimer Conference Room, 300 E. Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA.
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OC Political 
Ed Rakochy said
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the State Department of Finance have the final say on this? When the legislature abolished redevelopment agencies in 2011 it created Oversight Boards to oversee the disposition of funds and assets of the former RDAs, but gave the final say of all RDA transactions to the DOF. Obviously, killing this now at the Orange Oversight Board level would be the best thing to do. This sounds totally inappropriate.
OCInsider#33 said
How would the residents of Orange get stuck with the bill? The residents of Orange were both the CIty and the former Redevelopment agency? This is like selling yourself a car and then asking yourself to pay the bill. The CIty of Orange isn’t going to “impose taxes” to make sure the bonds are paid. The bill that dissolved RDA’s laid out how assets were to be transferred because Redevelopment Agencies all over the State owned assets used by its residents; libraries, public parking lots, city halls, fire stations, parks. The outcry of the residents would be huge if any city agency said those had to be sold. Will love to watch Mr. Yarbough explain that to the residents he represents.