County of San Bernardino v. Cohen
Annotate this CasePlaintiff County of San Bernardino loaned the San Bernardino County Redevelopment Agency $10 million. When the redevelopment agency was dissolved, $9 million of that money remained with the agency. When the Legislature dissolved redevelopment agencies, it provided that any agreement between the redevelopment agency and the municipal government that created the redevelopment agency is not an enforceable obligation. In this case, the County included payment of its loan to the former redevelopment agency as one of the enforceable obligations in a list sent to the Department of Finance. The Department of Finance rejected payment of the loan because the loan was an agreement, contract, or arrangement between the former redevelopment agency and the municipal government that created the redevelopment agency. The County petitioned the trial court for a writ of mandate against the Department of Finance, arguing that the County Loan was an enforceable obligation, for various reasons. The trial court rejected each reason and entered judgment for the Department of Finance. The Court of Appeal agreed with the Department of Finance and the trial court. Further, the Court rejected the County’s contentions on appeal that the determination of the Department of Finance: (1) violated the constitutional prohibitions on the state’s reallocation of tax revenues; (2) improperly concluded that the loan was not an enforceable obligation; and (3) was inequitable.
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