SR-040808-8BCity Council and Redevelopment Agency Meeting: April 8, 2008
Agenda Item:
To: Mayor and City Council
Chairperson and Redevelopment Agency
From: Andy Agle, Director of Housing and Economic Development
Carol. Swindell, Director of Finance
Subject: Redevelopment Priorities
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council and Redevelopment Agency confirm its funding
priorities and direct staff to prepare the necessary budget actions to move the priorities
forward in an expeditious manner.
Executive Summary
On April 24, 2007, the Agency-held amid-term review of its Five-Year Implementation
Plan and conceptually approved long-term priorities for Agency funding. This report
provides an update on the capital programs identified ih the long-term priorities and
recommends that the necessary organizational infrastructure to move the capital
programs forward, including staff, be funded by the Agency. In addition, this report
discusses the potential opportunities to implement and finance the unfunded capital
improvement programs and projects both in terms of the Agency's programs as outlined
in the Agency's current Implementation Plan, through 2008-09 and the future leveraging
of Agency tax increment as the Agency develops its Implementation Plan covering the
next five years from 2009-10 through 2013-14.
Discussion
Within the Earthquake Recovery Redevelopment Project Area, the Agency's largest
project area, tax increment funds can be collected through 2042. While the Agency is
able to collect tax increment through 2042, it must issue or commit all debt obligations
by 2014. As a result, it is imperative that within the next six years the Agency identify
capital programs and their associated -costs in order to create .obligations for those
projects. The Agency's debt capacity must be analyzed and the capital programs
including conceptual designs, cost estimates and implementation schedules must be
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defined. In addition, staff has determined that Agency funds on a "Pay-As-You-Go"
basis are adequate through 2008-09 to move capital projects forward to the next phase.
The initial cost associated -with the organizational capacity as discussed below is
anticipated to be approximately $1 million which represents approximately 4.4 percerit
of the total tax increment available to the Agency for eligible capital projects through
2008-09. At this time these costs are expected to include a project planner in
Community and Cultural Services for park development, four positions in Engineering
for project development and management for various Redevelopment funded projects,
and four positions in Planning and Community Development to provide the services
needed to develop and go forward with the various projects (includes traffic engineer
position funded in FY2007-08). While these costs will increase over time due to
inflationary factors, these increases are not expected to exceed the long-term growth
rate for Agency tax increment.
~onp-Term Considerations and Priorities for Agency Resources
At its April 24, 2007 meeting, the Agency conceptually approved a list of long-term
capital priorities for Agency funds. This is included as Attachment A. The list was
developed to support Council's long-term priorities by reviewing the City's list of
unfunded capital improvement projects and identifying projects that could be eligible for
redevelopment funding. The full costs to develop these projects have not been fully
identified although rough estimates have been calculated for initial planning for the
projects. The FY 2007-08 Capital Budget includes some funds to move some of these
high-priority capital programs to the next level of planning, design or implementation.
Given the existing capital programs that the City is implementing, it has become
apparent that the additional capital programs proposed to be funded by the Agency
cannot be implemented without supplemental staffing to carry out these capital projects.
As the supplemental staff would be directly associated with the Agency-funded
programs, the staff costs. can be funded by the Agency. Staff is seeking Agency
direction and Council approval to create-these positions in several departments to move
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the high-priority capital planning and design programs forward. These programs
include:
- Civic Center: The Agency purchased 11.3 acres of RAND property in 2000. With the
June 2005 adoption of the update to the Civic Center Specific Plan, recent
completion of the Civic Center Parking Structure,. and continued progress on the
Civic Center Village, the .current Agency budget includes funding for planning and
design for the Civic Center public improvements, including public parks, roadway
and circulation system improvements and rehabilitation and expansion of the
.landmark Civic Auditorium. To begin planning and design of-the parks and public
improvements proposed for the Civic Center, staff recommends Agency funding of
positions in the Community and Cultural Services, Environmental Public Works
Management and .Planning and Community Development departments. Once
design and cost estimates are developed, various "financing options could be
considered to fund the construction of these improvements.
- Downtown Parking Plan: With the completion of the Civic Center Parking Structure
and the certification of the Downtown Parking Program EIR, the Downtown Parking
Plan is ready .for consideration of design and financing models. The Downtown
Parking Plan anticipates that the Agency will contribute an amount equivalent to
what would have been spent on seismic retrofit of the three parking structures that
are to be demolished and rebuilt. To date, .the City has hired Walker Parking
Consultants to prepare an update of the financing plan for the Downtown Parking
Program and to study the pricing and operations of the parking structures. In order
to keep the program moving forward and to commence the design of the first new
parking structure in the downtown, staff.. recommends Agency invest in .project
management, design and financial evaluation by funding positions in the
Environmental and Public Works Management Department. Initiating the design of
the first new parking structure will assist the City in understanding the total expected
costs for the Program.
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Commercial Corridor Improvements: A key priority. identified during outreach
associated with the Land Use and Circulation Elements is improvement of Santa
Monica's commercial corridors. The corridors have a variety of needs, including
streetscape improvements, parking and transportation enhancements and
improvements in sustainability and economic vitality. The FY 2007-08 Budget
includes funding of consultant services to initiate a plan for the first corridor,
including creating an overall framework, design studies and the improvement
strategies. The LUCE process has identified Pico Boulevard as the first corridor for
which an improvement plan will be developed. To lead the commercial corridor
improvement program and to perform entitlement support and environmental review
for other RDA priority projects including the Civic Center and Downtown Parking
Program, staff recommends the Agency appropriate funding of personnel in the
Planning and Community Development Department.
- Traffic Signal Master Plan Implementation: In adopting the FY 2006-07 Budget,
Council asked staff to ahalyze opportunities to accelerate the coordination and
.synchronization of traffic signals. Staff recommends that the Agency continue to
provide funding for the necessary staffing and unfunded capital costs to accelerate
this program.
- Infrastructure Assessment and Design: Some of the City's core infrastructure
facilities, such as certain streets and sidewalks, storm water facilities, and street
lights, are in need of seismic upgrades. or complete reconstruction. Staff
recommends that the Agency provide funding to fund full assessment of these
needs. After the needs are fully assessed, a capital and financing program to
address those infrastructure needs will be developed.
- Memorial Park Master Planning and Design: In 2004, the City acquired the 2.9 acre
Fisher Lumber site at 1601 14th Street which is adjacent to Memorial Park. With this
acquisition, there. is an opportunity to develop a master plan for the Memorial Park
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block, including the potential construction of a new subsurface water reservoir to
increase the City's emergency water supply. To fund master planning activities, and
develop cost estimates in order to evaluate various financing options to implement
eventual master plan improvements, it is recommended that the Agency fund the
one staff position described earlier for the Community and Cultural Services
Department and the Civic Center project.
- Affordable Housing: The preservation and production of affordable housing has
been a top priority for Agency funds. State law mandates that 20 percent of gross
redevelopment tax increment revenues be invested in the production and
over 25 percent of gross tax increment and over 40 percent of net available
redevelopment revenues on affordable housing. In order to expedite the production
and preservation of affordable housing, in late 2007, the City issued a request for
proposals for a line of credit to leverage future Agency affordable housing funds. In
the near future, Council will consider a housing line of credit with Bank of America,
which will allow the City to expedite its investments in affordable housing.
Debt Capacity
The City and Public Resources Advisory Group (PRAG), the Agency's financial advisor,
have preliminarily analyzed the debt capacity of the .Agency. Based on .estimated FY
2008-09 net available tax increment of $22.6 million, PRAG estimates that the
Earthquake Redevelopment Project. Area has debt capacity of at least $300 million over
the next 1-3 years using various debt structures. This capacity is based on relatively.
conservative projections of .growth in assessed valuation. Attachment B shows the
projected tax increment through 2014. The Project Area has a limit on tax allocation
bonds of $95 million; and in order to borrow more than that amount, the debt would
need to be structured in another way, most likely as lease revenue bonds through the
General Fund. It may not be possible to borrow the full projected capacity without
negatively affecting the City's AAA bond rating, and therefore RDA borrowing under a
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lease revenue structure may need to be balanced against other City borrowing needs.
As the long-term priority projects are further defined to the point of becoming project
ready, a recommended debt structure can be determined. PRAG is completing a more
detailed debt capacity analysis for the City and Agency, which will be used to prepare
the Agency's recommended financing program for the 2009-10 through 2013-14
Implementation Plan. In the future, the City and the Agency will have to take into
account that any debt capacity estimates will be impacted by several factors, including
the state of the real estate and credit markets, the City and Agency's assessed
valuation of real property, and expected impacts of debt financing on the City's credit
rating.
Given the 2014 deadline for the Agency to incur debt and the need to move several
high-priority capital programs to the next level of design and implementation, the City
and the Agency will need to explore various financing mechanisms, including lease
revenue bonds, bank financing, cooperation agreements and reimbursement
agreements.
Next Steps
If Council concurs with the proposed approach to addressing long-term priorities for
redevelopment resources, the recommended strategies will be reflected in the
upcoming FY 2008-09 budgets.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
All budget actions resulting from these funding commitments will be included in the FY
2008-09 Proposed Budget and any. approved funding commitments beyond this fiscal
year will be appropriated each fiscal year thereafter.
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Prepared by:
Tina Rodriguez, Redevelopment Administrator
Nia Tang, Senior Administrative Analyst
Approved: Forwarded to Council:
Carol Swin ell, Director
Finance
Attachments:
Attachment A: Redevelopment Long Term Considerations and Priorities
Attachment B: Tax Increment Projections
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Approved:
ATTACHMENT A
REDEVELOPMENT
Long-term Considerations & Priorities
Civic Center
- Civic Auditorium Rehabilitation /Expansion
- Civic Auditorium Park
- Early Childhood Development Center
- Palisades Garden Walk
- Town Square
- Civic Center Roadway, Bridge and Circulation Improvements
Downtown Parking Strategic Plan
Commercial Corridor Improvements
- Citywide Traffic Signal Master Plan
- Lincoln Boulevard Improvements
- Santa Monica Boulevard Improvements
- Pico Boulevard Revitalization
- Boulevard Revitalization
- Downtown Urban Design Plan Final Phases
- 6~h Street Reconstruction
- Shared Parking Facilities near Neighborhood Nodes
- Circulation Element /Pathway Master Plan Improvements
Infrastructure Assessments and Design
- Bayside District Infrastructure Improvements
- Stormwater System Seismic Reliability Improvements
- New Streetlights and Streetlight Circuits
- Freeway Bridge Improvements
- New Sidewalks and Sidewalk Upgrade Needs
- Neighborhood/Local Street Improvements
- Pier Infrastructure Improvements
Memorial Park Master Plan Expansion
Other
- Parkland Acquisition and Development
- Solar and Distributed Energy Generation Projects
- Workforce Housing
- Light Rail Transit Station Area Development
- Senior Recreation Center Renovation/Expansion Project
Attachment B
Historical and Projected ERRPA Tax Increment Revenue
^ Projected ERRPA tax increment revenues provide 3-year debt capacity of over $300
million.
^ However, borrowing this full amount could have a negative impact on credit ratings and
future financial flexibility.
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