City of Galt v. Cohen

218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 779, 12 Cal. App. 5th 367, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 508
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJune 2, 2017
DocketC075897
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 779 (City of Galt v. Cohen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Galt v. Cohen, 218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 779, 12 Cal. App. 5th 367, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 508 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

NICHOLSON, Acting P.J.

*370After Governor Brown announced his intention to dissolve redevelopment agencies, but before the legislation passed, City of Galt entered into an agreement (the Cooperative Agreement) with its former redevelopment agency under which the former redevelopment agency agreed to finance several parts of the redevelopment plan, totaling more than *371$22,000,000. To obtain money for the financing, the former redevelopment agency issued tax allocation bonds, which were to be repaid using tax increment revenue. With the dissolution of redevelopment agencies discussed but still not signed into law, City of Galt and its former redevelopment agency filed a complaint to validate the Cooperative Agreement. No one responded to the complaint, so the trial court entered a validation judgment.

The Legislature and Governor eventually dissolved redevelopment agencies (the Dissolution Law). The Dissolution Law, on its face, renders unenforceable any agreement between a local agency and its former redevelopment agency (sponsor agreements) during a specified period of time before dissolution took place (the freeze component of the Dissolution Law). The Department of Finance (DOF) determined that the Cooperative Agreement here is unenforceable under the freeze component. City of Galt filed a petition for writ of mandate, but the trial court upheld DOF's determination.

On appeal, City of Galt contends: (1) the state must allow City of Galt to use the proceeds from the tax allocation bonds to fund the Cooperative Agreement projects; (2) the Cooperative Agreement is enforceable because it was the subject of a validation judgment, and (3) equitable estoppel *782bars DOF from determining that the Cooperative Agreement is unenforceable. None of City of Galt's contentions has merit.

BACKGROUND

As background in this redevelopment dissolution case, we quote parts of the Supreme Court's decision in California Redevelopment Assn. v. Matosantos (2011) 53 Cal.4th 231, 135 Cal.Rptr.3d 683, 267 P.3d 580 (Matosantos ), which upheld the provisions of the Dissolution Law relevant to this case:

"Assembly Bill[ ] 1X 26 ... consist[s] of [two] principal components, codified as new parts 1.8 [and] 1.85 ... of division 24 of the Health and Safety Code. Part 1.8 ( [Health & Saf. Code,] §§ 34161 to 34169.5 )[1 ] is the 'freeze' component: it subjects redevelopment agencies to restrictions on new bonds or other indebtedness, new plans or changes to existing plans, and new partnerships, including joint powers authorities (§§ 34162 to 34165). Cities and counties are barred from creating any new redevelopment agencies. (§ 34166.) Existing obligations are unaffected; redevelopment agencies may continue to make payments and perform existing obligations until other agencies take over. (§ 34169.) Part 1.8's purpose is to preserve redevelopment *372agency assets and revenues for use by 'local governments to fund core governmental services' such as fire protection, police, and schools. (§ 34167, subd. (a).)

"Part 1.85 (§§ 34170 to 34191) is the dissolution component. It dissolves all redevelopment agencies (§ 34172) and transfers control of redevelopment agency assets to successor agencies, which are contemplated to be the city or county that created the redevelopment agency (§§ 34171, subd. (j), 34173, 34175, subd. (b)). Part 1.85 requires successor agencies to continue to make payments and perform existing obligations. (§ 34177.) However, unencumbered balances of redevelopment agency funds must be remitted to the county auditor-controller for distribution to cities, the county, special districts, and school districts in proportion to what each agency would have received absent the redevelopment agencies. (See §§ 34177, subd. (d), 34183, subd. (a)(4), 34188.) Proceeds from redevelopment agency asset sales likewise must go to the county auditor-controller for similar distribution. (§ 34177, subd. (e).) Finally, tax increment revenues that would have gone to redevelopment agencies must be deposited in a local trust fund each county is required to create and administer. (§§ 34170.5, subd. (b), 34182, subd. (c)(1).) All amounts necessary to satisfy administrative costs, pass-through payments, and enforceable obligations will be allocated for those purposes, while any excess will be deemed property tax revenue and distributed in the same fashion as balances and assets. (§§ 34172, subd. (d), 34183, subd. (a).)" (Matosantos, supra, 53 Cal.4th at pp. 250-251, 135 Cal.Rptr.3d 683, 267 P.3d 580.)

"During the freeze, redevelopment agencies were authorized to continue distributing tax increment pursuant to enforceable obligations, the definition of which included 'sponsor agreements' between a former redevelopment agency and its sponsor agency [such as City of Galt and the former redevelopment agency here]. (§§ 34167, subd. (d), 34169, subd. (a)). Postdissolution, however, the definition of 'enforceable obligations' entitled to tax increment from the successor agencies excluded all sponsor agreements. (§§ 34171, subd. (d)(2), 34177, subd. (a).)" ( *783City of Brentwood v. Campbell (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 488, 494, 188 Cal.Rptr.3d 88 (Brentwood ), original italics, fn. omitted.)

TIMELINE OF RELEVANT EVENTS

Retroactive to December 31, 2010 -Proceeds from bonds issued by a former redevelopment agency after this date may not be used by the successor agency if they are not encumbered by an enforceable obligation. (§ 34191.4, subd. (c)(2); statute eff. June 27, 2012.)

*373Retroactive to January 1, 2011 -After this date, transfers of assets from the former redevelopment agency to the sponsoring agency were "deemed not to be in the furtherance of the Community Redevelopment Law and [ ] thereby unauthorized." (§ 34167.5; statute eff. June 29, 2011.)

January 6, 2011 -City of Galt entered into an agreement with real party in interest Callander Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc. (the Callander Agreement).

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Bluebook (online)
218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 779, 12 Cal. App. 5th 367, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 508, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-galt-v-cohen-calctapp5d-2017.