Los Angeles City Council hit the brakes Tuesday on a proposal to study a new \u201cclimate resilience district\u201d for Pacific Palisades, after a debate over whether the wildfire-ravaged neighborhood should be the first in line for a powerful but still largely untested financing tool.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the hillside community burned in January\u2019s Palisades fire<\/a>, urged colleagues to approve a $300,000 feasibility study for what would be L.A.\u2019s first Climate Resilience District \u2014 a special zone that could direct future property tax growth and other local revenues toward wildfire prevention, soil stabilization and other climate-related improvements.<\/p>\n \u201cThis vote isn\u2019t creating the Climate Resilience District,\u201d Park said. \u201cWe\u2019re just asking for the study to educate us about the benefits, opportunities and potential financial impacts, if any.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate Resilience Districts (CRDs) were created under a 2022 state law, SB 852<\/a>. They allow cities and counties to capture future increases in property tax revenue within that district\u2019s boundaries to pay for climate adaptation projects. While CRDs can also impose new taxes or assessments, doing so requires voter approval.<\/p>\n Park also urged members to vote down the Budget and Finance Committee\u2019s earlier recommendation to \u201cnote and file\u201d the $300,000 study request\u2014a procedural move that would acknowledge the report but take no action on it.<\/p>\n But Budget and Finance Committee Chair Katy Yaroslavsky warned that moving ahead now would be \u201cjumping the gun,\u201d given that the city has not yet completed a broader analysis on how climate resilience districts could affect L.A.\u2019s general fund citywide.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still don\u2019t have that report,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are potentially huge financial implications. \u2026 Sometimes [these districts] use tax increment, which takes away money from the general fund. \u2026 We can\u2019t afford to divert property tax revenues from the general fund for all the reasons I\u2019ve been yelling at us about and we\u2019ve been talking<\/a> about now for the last eleven months.\u201d<\/p>\n The council voted 10\u20135 to refer the entire matter, including Park\u2019s proposal and the Budget and Finance Committee\u2019s recommendation to \u201cnote and file\u201d the earlier study request back to the Budget and Finance and Economic Development committees for further study. Park, joined by Councilmembers Curren Price, John Lee, Heather Hutt and Adrin Nazarian, opposed the referral.<\/p>\n The debate stems from a motion Park introduced on Jan. 15, shortly after the fire erupted above Pacific Coast Highway, destroying homes, businesses and public facilities. Her motion asked the Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) to study the feasibility of creating a Climate Resilience District for the burn area and what types of infrastructure or investments it could support.<\/p>\n