Despite opposition from Council Member Bob Leone, the Yucca Valley Town Council voted last night to borrow from its bond funds to fulfill its loan obligation to the developer of the Town’s senior housing project. Of the project’s nearly $18 million cost, about $2.9 million is a loan from the Town of Yucca Valley. The developer, National CORE, will repay
the Town out of the project’s operational revenue. However, because the state of California is withholding—for three to five years—a reimbursement of $635,000 that it owes the Town, the Town has a cash-flow problem with the loan. So the Town Council did a little financial juggling last night. It agreed, 3-to-1, with Mayor Robert Lombardo absent and Leone opposed, to borrow $635,000 from its low- and moderate-income housing bonds, and repay the bonds when it gets repayment from the state. Deputy Town Manager Shane Stueckle stressed to the Council that the loan amount to CORE has not changed in any way. However, Council Member Bob Leone voted against the financial juggling, saying he thought it was “too sweet of a deal,” and that it placed the Town in an IOU position with no one knowing when the Town would get repaid. In addition, he said he didn’t like the location of where the senior center was being built.
YUCCA VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL BORROWS FROM BONDS FOR SENIOR HOUSING PROJECT
