Santa Ana Unified School District v. Orange County Development Agency

Defendants Orange County Development Agency, the County of Orange, and David E. Sundstrom appeal from a summary judgment ordering them to pay plaintiff Santa Ana Unified School District certain property tax revenues. Defendants contend plaintiff was required to elect to receive such funds, and failed to do so timely, thereby negating any right to allocation of the funds. Plaintiff argues, and the trial court agreed, that defendants’ allocation and payment of the funds were mandatory, making plaintiff’s election automatic. We affirm.

Facts

The facts in this case are simple and not in dispute. In 1986, defendants adopted the Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Project (project) under the Community Redevelopment Act (Health & Saf. Code, § 33000 et seq.; all further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise stated). The project falls within plaintiff’s boundaries.

In 1996, plaintiff adopted a resolution electing to be paid its share of the annual 2 percent inflationary increase in property tax assessment revenues (2 percent tax) pursuant to section 33676. Defendants denied the request for lack of a timely election, maintaining that plaintiff was required to make…