State policymakers cannot easily monitor local redevelopment agencies’ performance in meeting low-income housing mandates because of inadequate data collection, according to a report released Tuesday by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.
State law requires California’s 424 redevelopment agencies to apply at least 20% of the tax money they collect to creating and preserving housing for those of limited means.
“But state officials have no clear picture of the status of that money,” the report said. “The picture is muddied by the inconsistent information two state agencies separately collect about the low- and moderate-income housing funds of individual redevelopment agencies.”
Both the controller’s office and the Department of Housing and Community Development collect data on the 20% set-aside.
The two agencies use different systems, but they are supposed to be tracking the same facts, including how much money is sitting idle in their low- and moderate-income housing funds.
But the most recent available data, from fiscal 2007-2008, shows a $1.3 billion discrepancy between the two, according to this week’s report.
The oversight committee found several possible causes for the discrepancy, including human error, exacerbated by complicated reporting requirements; the lack of legal penalties for filing incorrect or incomplete information; and the fact that neither arm of the state government verifies most of the information it collects.
“Such reporting glitches do more than confuse housing advocates and legislative staff,” the Senate report said. “They make it nearly impossible to measure whether redevelopment agencies are achieving the affordable housing goals set by the Legislature.”
