This is interesting. By law the California state government must use its general fund to compensate the schools for the money that the redevelopment agencies(RDA) have diverted. Although Ohio has redevelopment agencies it appears that tax increment financing districts are the preferred method of financing these “redevelopment” projects. I looked at Ohio’s Tax Increment Financing page and could not find any mention of Ohio school districts being compensated by the state for the diverted property tax revenues.

In Sacramento, Governor Jerry Brown is planning to close California’s $26.6 billion structural deficit through spending cuts and tax extensions. Opposition has been spirited but less contentious than expected, probably because of the size of the budget hole. But one item of Brown’s plan””something that would save about $1.7 billion annually””has generated heated debates between local officials and the new administration. The governor has proposed eliminating California’s approximately 400 redevelopment agencies (RDAs).

In theory, RDAs spearhead blight removal. In fact, they divert billions of dollars from traditional services, such as schools, parks, and firefighting; use eminent domain to seize property for favored developers; and run up California’s debt to pay those developers to construct projects of dubious public value, such as stadiums and big-box stores.

California’s Secret Government by Steven Greenhut, City Journal Spring 2011