Resurgence Of Redevelopment Agencies?

Redevelopment agencies (RDAs) have held a rather infamous position in California history. While originally created to address urban decay (aka "blight"), generally speaking, RDAs developed into entities that wielded the power of eminent domain to designate large areas of property "blighted," acquire the property, and then hand it off to private developers. The RDAs were motivated to engage in this behavior because they captured the increases in property tax revenues that resulted from the increase in property values caused by the urban renewal projects. This resulted in a reallocation of funds from other recipients, most notably schools. Ultimately, opposition to such practices prevailed and RDAs were abolished in 2011.