Cuenca v. Cohen
Annotate this CaseThe issues presented by this case concerned the effects of the elimination of a tax increment and dissolution of the Santa Ana Redevelopment Agency on the five stipulated judgments.Petitioners Hilda Cuenca, Claudia Castaneda, Enimia Hernandez, and Evangelina Avalos, and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County (cumulatively, Cuenca) sought a writ of mandate to overturn the Department of Finance’s determination that approximately $30 million set aside under the stipulated judgments was unencumbered and must be remitted to the county auditor-controller. The trial court affirmed DOF’s determination except for a $3.5 million loan pledged to Habitat for construction of 17 affordable houses. On appeal, Cuenca contended: (1) the five stipulated judgments were enforceable obligations under the Dissolution Law; (2) the tax increment moneys set aside under the stipulated judgments remain available for use by the Santa Ana Redevelopment Agency’s housing successor; (3) the stipulated judgments were contracts subject to protections of the contract clauses of the United States and California Constitutions, and the Dissolution Law may not require the diversion of tax increment moneys to the county auditor-controller; and (4) DOF’s “taking of $30 million in pre-dissolution tax increment violated the California Constitution. Finding no reversible error, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court.
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