Dear Santa Clarans,
It's about the Stadium. Really. It is.
When Council voted this evening to hand over to Sacramento, EVERY YEAR, ten percent of the property taxes generated in our Redevelopment Agency, we were told about the hardship that would ensue if we couldn't operate the RDA in perpetuity and force it to dispense cash to the San Francisco 49ers all along the way.
Yes, other projects are at stake. But the real purpose of Council's actions this evening is to protect the ability of our RDA to borrow cash from the 49ers and pay it back at a rate of up to 8.5% a year - using our property tax dollars.
The use of public monies to subsidize a millionaire's private enterprise, in fact, makes Santa Clara's RDA a poster child for eliminating RDAs in California altogether, which our City Council and RDA were obviously unwilling to do.
The blather, frankly, began almost immediately after the RDA Giveaway this evening. One of the more absurd claims I overheard was that we were wrong to oppose the "new" RDA - because the money comes back from Governor Brown, freshly laundered and folded, 'for schools and stuff.'
Don't you believe it.
Balancing the State Budget will never favor local schools. If you really want to protect local schools: Phase out redevelopment so that those property taxes can finally be disbursed the way they were originally intended to be shared.
When Council voted this evening to hand over to Sacramento, EVERY YEAR, ten percent of the property taxes generated in our Redevelopment Agency, we were told about the hardship that would ensue if we couldn't operate the RDA in perpetuity and force it to dispense cash to the San Francisco 49ers all along the way.
Yes, other projects are at stake. But the real purpose of Council's actions this evening is to protect the ability of our RDA to borrow cash from the 49ers and pay it back at a rate of up to 8.5% a year - using our property tax dollars.
The use of public monies to subsidize a millionaire's private enterprise, in fact, makes Santa Clara's RDA a poster child for eliminating RDAs in California altogether, which our City Council and RDA were obviously unwilling to do.
The blather, frankly, began almost immediately after the RDA Giveaway this evening. One of the more absurd claims I overheard was that we were wrong to oppose the "new" RDA - because the money comes back from Governor Brown, freshly laundered and folded, 'for schools and stuff.'
Don't you believe it.
Balancing the State Budget will never favor local schools. If you really want to protect local schools: Phase out redevelopment so that those property taxes can finally be disbursed the way they were originally intended to be shared.
It won't happen immediately. But forcing the RDAs to pay off their debts and clock out would mean at least $10,000,000 per year into Santa Clara Unified Schools EVERY YEAR - far more than the pittance being passed through by the SB 211 amendment the Council passed for the 49ers in February (To get an idea of the dollars involved, see the July page in your City Calendar.).
There's an even darker side of the precedent that our Council-and-RDA chose this evening, though: Imagine that day in the very near future when the next Governor decides that $2.7 million a year out of our RDA is not enough for his budget shenanigans in Sacramento. He demands $6 million per year instead. What then?
We could imagine an even worse scenario: A State Legislature so addicted to those RDA dollars that it actually prohibits the dissolution of local agencies in order to keep our local property tax money flowing their way. Think Sac politicians won't interfere still more in our local affairs? They certainly did with SB 43.
What the Santa Clara City Council did this evening is foolish and dangerous on multiple levels.
But worse than that, it protects the interests of the San Francisco 49ers far more than it protects Santa Clarans.
There's an even darker side of the precedent that our Council-and-RDA chose this evening, though: Imagine that day in the very near future when the next Governor decides that $2.7 million a year out of our RDA is not enough for his budget shenanigans in Sacramento. He demands $6 million per year instead. What then?
We could imagine an even worse scenario: A State Legislature so addicted to those RDA dollars that it actually prohibits the dissolution of local agencies in order to keep our local property tax money flowing their way. Think Sac politicians won't interfere still more in our local affairs? They certainly did with SB 43.
What the Santa Clara City Council did this evening is foolish and dangerous on multiple levels.
But worse than that, it protects the interests of the San Francisco 49ers far more than it protects Santa Clarans.
Thanks for all of your support,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer
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