CA State Controller John Chiang RDA Audit
Findings
CA State Controller Audit of Redevelopment Agencies - Click here for full report
Read State Controller Press Release - 3.7.11
Press Release: Controller Issues Redevelopment Finding
State Legislative Analyst's Office Report - The 2011-12 Budget: Should California End Redevelopment Agencies?
Crony Capitalism and Social Engineering: The Case against Tax-Increment Financing
A CATO Institute Publication
By Randal O'Toole
While cities often claim that TIF is “free money” because it
represents the taxes collected from developments that might not have
taken place without the subsidy, there is plenty of evidence that this
is not true. First, several studies have found that the developments
subsidized by TIF would have happened anyway in the same urban area,
though not necessarily the same location. Second, new developments
impose costs on schools, fire departments, and other urban services, so
other taxpayers must either pay more to cover those costs or accept a
lower level of services as services are spread to developments that are
not paying for them.
Subsidizing Redevelopment in California
Public Policy Institute of California Study
2.25.98 Press Release - Redevelopment Agencies in California Receive Huge Annual Subsidies
California Scheming
What Every Californian Should Know About Eminent Domain Abuse
An Institute for Justice Publication
In the years since the 2005 Kelo decision, 42 states have passed eminent domain reform that in one form or another restricts this awesome power of government—the power to take away and destroy someone’s home or small business, farm or church, often for another private party’s benefit. Although many state reforms were meaningful, some were not. California’s reforms were among the weakest in the nation. With more than 700 redevelopment areas, hundreds of documented abuses of eminent domain since 2001, and tens of thousands of properties threatened by eminent domain, California is one of the states most in need of real eminent domain reform. In the Institute for Justice’s 2007 study, 50 State Report Card: Tracking Eminent Domain Reform Legislation since Kelo, California’s eminent domain reform received a “D-“ for the new laws’ ineffectiveness.
Doomsday? No Way.
An Institute for Justice Publication
By Dick M. Carpenter II, Ph.D. and John K. Ross
Despite doomsday predictions from abusers of eminent domain, this report finds states can pass strong property rights protection reforms and have economic development, too.
Myths and Realities of Eminent Domain Abuse
A Castle Coalition Publication
In the debate over eminent domain abuse, municipalities and developers often advance myths in defense of the government’s use of this power for private commercial development. In response to those myths, the Castle Coalition offers something far more compelling – the truth.
Eminent Threat?
An Analysis of Contributions to Property-Rights Ballot Measures,
2006
Published by the National Institute on Money in
State Politics
By Denise Roth Barber
This report examines campaign contributions to ballot measure
committees formed to support or oppose the 13 property-rights
measures on statewide ballots across the nation in 2006.
The report finds that 70% of all contributions were raised
by opponents of the reform measures. And more money was
spent against California’s Proposition 90 than was
spent against eminent domain reform ballot measures in all
other states combined!
Victimizing the Vulnerable: The Demographics of
Eminent Domain Abuse
An Institute for Justice Publication
By Dick M. Carpenter II, Ph.D. and John K. Ross
This study examined U.S. Census data and determined that
the poor, less educated and minorities are disproportionately
targets of eminent domain abuse.
50 State Report Card: Tracking Eminent Domain
Reform Legislation since Kelo
A Castle Coalition Publication
In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo
v. City of New London decision, 41 states have passed new
laws aimed at curbing the abuse of eminent domain for private
use. This report examines those reforms, state by state,
and issues each a letter grade.
Development Without Eminent Domain
An Institute for Justice Publication
By Curt Pringle, Mayor of Anaheim
This report, by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, describes how
Anaheim’s leadership brought economic vibrancy to
the city without resorting to any takings of private property.
It also explores the successes and failures of other cities
around the nation in economic redevelopment.
Opening the Floodgates: Eminent domain abuse
in a post-Kelo world.
An Institute for Justice Publication
By Dana Berliner
Attorney Dana Berliner shows how the Kelo ruling opened
the floodgates to even greater use of eminent domain for
private profit—exactly as Justice O’Connor predicted
in her Kelo dissent.
Eminent Domain and African Americans, What
is the Price of the Commons?
An Institute for Justice Publication
By Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD
In this study, Dr. Fullilove, a research psychiatrist at
the New York State Psychiatric Institute and a professor
of clinical psychiatry and public health at Columbia University,
examines the effects of eminent domain abuse on the African
American community.
Eminent Domain Abuse Survival Guide
A Castle Coalition Publication
Activists nationwide have used the Eminent Domain Abuse
Survival Guide to successfully fight illegitimate land-grabs.
Expanding on the most effective practical strategies to
protect your property outside of the courtroom, the Survival
Guide is designed to be a comprehensive roadmap for any
grassroots battle against eminent domain for private development.
Redevelopment: The Unknown Government
Published by Municipal Officials for Redevelopment
Reform (MORR), through a grant from the Fieldstead Institute,
Irvine, CA.
A concise, user-friendly guide explaining what Redevelopment
is and what can be done to stop it.
Suggested Reading:
Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in
21st Century America, by Timothy Sandefur
Real-life stories and solid legal analysis combine to show
why property rights are the “cornerstone of liberty,”
how they are protected in the U.S. Constitution, and how
the Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London case has impacted
them.
Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses
Eminent Domain, by Steven Greenhut
"Today, governments will take a church's land or an
entire neighborhood to make way for a discount store, auto
mall, theme park or anything else that promises a higher
amount of tax revenue. Anything goes, as long as officials
call it a 'public use.'" This is a story about injustice
and unfairness, but also about people who reached deep within
themselves and mustered the courage to fight back.
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