S. Tahoe’s persistence pays off with state

By Kathryn Reed

Hours of phone calls, countless emails and several meetings resulted in the state Department of Finance on Dec. 26 saying it only wants a check for $274,473 instead of $1,911,519.

South Lake Tahoe City Manager Nancy Kerry played hardball with the state agency when it came to what the successor agency to the city’s Redevelopment Agency would relinquish from its housing fund.

It’s a double-edged sword as to why the dollar amount dropped so significantly. Because the El Dorado County tax collector provided the state with the revised assessment figures on the “hole in the ground” near Stateline, the successor agency doesn’t have as much money as the state believes it is owed.

While this is good news for now, it means those 11 acres are not bringing in the projected revenue even as near-vacant land.

The successor agency will use what funds it has to make a modest dent in the $100 million debt it has for having borrowed so much money to get the Heavenly Village project built.

The dissolution of redevelopment agencies by the governor was all about getting more money into state coffers. It has backfired a bit because of all of the outstanding debt tied to various redevelopment agencies.

The local oversight board is scheduled to meet Jan. 4 to go over the next series of due diligence reports from the county auditor. The board will meet again Jan. 14. Both meetings are at 2pm at Lake Tahoe Airport.