Daily Business Report-Dec. 26, 2013
Diego County Foreclosures Decline
The number of San Diego County homeowners entering the foreclosure
process in November fell by more than 50 percent from November of last year, while the number of homes foreclosed on during the month plummeted by more than 60 percent compared to last year, according to DataQuick of San Diego.
According to DataQuick, Notices of Default, the first step in the formal foreclosure process, totaled 374 in the county in November, down from 541 in October and 54.3 percent below the 818 notices of November 2012.
The number of homes foreclosed on in November totaled 162, down from 173 in October and 62.54 percent lower than the 432 foreclosures in November 2012.
Business Leaders Launch Campaign Against Developer Fee
San Diego business leaders are taking aim at the linkage fee, a tax charged to land developers to fund new affordable housing for the kinds of workers who build new developments but often can’t afford to live here.
Despite strong opposition from the business community, City Council narrowly voted to raise the fee in November. Now business leaders are launching a petition drive to put the tax hike before voters next year.
Sound familiar? That’s because it’s just what happened with the Barrio Logan Community Plan, which many in the business community also opposed. “Well, I don’t think that there’s any other way to do it,” former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said. Sanders now heads the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“I think the business community has to stand up and say, ‘This is something that won’t work in terms of job creation, or just in terms of the general economy,’ and that’s what we’ve seen with both these issues,” he said.
Sanders claims the linkage-fee hike will cause developers to invest in cities like Carlsbad or Vista rather than San Diego.
The business community has to collect 34,000 signatures by Jan. 23 in order to get the fee hike on the June 2014 ballot. — KPBS Report
New Study Details Big Challenges for State Parks
A new study has found that California’s state parks system is top-heavy and has been slow to seize on moneymaking opportunities that could help it recover from deep fiscal wounds, some of which were self-inflicted, the U-T San Diego reports. The independent review also unearthed erratic and antiquated accounting systems, over-reliance on a few parks to generate the most income, an inability to cash in on concession contracts and a slothlike approach to attracting more users, especially to waterfront parks.
The findings by FTI Consulting highlight many of the challenges for the state Department of Parks and Recreation as it struggles to move beyond financial scandal and restore public trust.
The 180-page financial assessment also notes familiar problems that have long plagued parks: stagnant state revenues, a staggering list of unfunded repairs and renovations, and state bond accounts that are about to run dry.
Parks Director Anthony Jackson, a retired Marine major general from Fallbrook who was tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown to turn the troubled department around 13 months ago, said there is little in the report to disagree with.
CORRECTION
An item appearing earlier in today’s Daily Business Report saying that Debra Rosen, president and CEO of the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce, would be leaving the chamber is not true. The false information came from an outdated source.
SD METRO and the Daily Business Report regrets the error and offers an apology to Rosen.
