Redevelopment Agency must decide how to spend $4.1 million
The city may be dipping into its reserves to deal with its deficit, but the Redevelopment Agency has a different kind of problem – how to spend unallocated funds and some money that has come back to its budget.
The city council’s Community and Economic Development Committee (CEDC) is taking a hard look at reallocating $4.1 million of the total projected $12 million Redevelopment Agency budget for the next four years.
Larry Carr, a member of the committee, said the CEDC is examining available RDA funding for economic development activities. The money has always been in the budget and some of it was previously designated for projects that have now fallen by the wayside.
“People need to understand there’s no extra money. It’s important to demonstrate that we don’t have money around. All funding requests will be studied at the subcommittee level,” said Carr.
Only about $700,000 comes from previously unallocated funds. If the RDA decides to fund just the few projects it has pledged to support, like $125,000 for the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, and nearly $100,000 for the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, there will be $2.45 million in available economic development funds. Then there’s $980,000 for the abandoned RDA regional soccer complex project. Since the San Jose Soccer Foundation is no longer viewing Morgan Hill as an option for its facility, that money has become available.
Upon learning that the nearly $1 million formerly targeted for the regional soccer complex is now available, the Library, Arts and Culture Commission has already requested that the RDA add these funds for the construction of the new library. The RDA assigned $17 million for the construction of a 28,000 sq. ft. library, to be located on the Civic Center site bordered by DeWitt, Alkire and Main. The amount, according to Friends of the Library President Carol O’Hare, is merely for “a bare bones” facility. O’Hare and library officials want the money to go toward purchasing public art for the facility, upgrading building materials, or beefing up the landscape around the facility.
“This year, we are advocating for the city to allocate up to $1 million remaining RDA funds to upgrading the interior finishings, better hardscaping and improving landscape of the new library,” said O’Hare. “The library also plans to campaign to raise money to provide high quality furnishings for the new library.”
The Park and Recreation Commission, in turn, has suggested these funds go to the outdoor sports complex.
At the recent CEDC meeting, Carr and Councilman Greg Sellers, who is chairperson of the committee, charged Business Assistance and Housing Services Director Garrett Toy and staff with the task of determining areas which could use some of the money.
Funding targets are divided into three categories – projects for downtown, citywide and public improvements and facilities. Carr suggested it may be worthwhile to distribute money to certain projects and fund them substantially, instead of spreading the money thinly over a greater number of projects.
“It might be best to fund something instead of tinkering with several,” said Carr.
“We need to balance what is needed with what will be requested,” said Sellers.
Carr told Toy, “Think about them as independent line items, then we can proceed from there.”
Carr and Sellers did not give Toy a deadline to complete the task.
