By: Chriss W. Street
California State Controller John Chiang today announced that the cities of Milpitas and Morgan Hill illegally tried to convert hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate, cash and investments that were required to be turned over to the State of California after Governor Jerry Brown and the State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1x 26, terminating all municipal redevelopment agencies to help cover a $25 billion budget shortfall. Before the Controller’s audits, the state had collected less than $400 million of the $3 billion they expected from the state’s 400 community redevelopment agencies. The State Controller’s charges against two small towns are a home run for the state, but are a financial nightmare that will pound cities and counties across the state. Continue reading