Redevelopment Agencies and Authorities

Definition

A redevelopment agency or authority is a public body created under state law to acquire, clear and redevelop land in areas a local government designates as blighted. Title I of the Housing Act of 1949 funded such "local public agencies" for slum clearance and redevelopment,^[1] and federal tax law allows tax-exempt qualified redevelopment bonds for that work.^[2]

Federal law

Formed under state law. No Act of Congress creates it; the federal laws below apply to it as described.

1. Housing Act of 1949, title I (Slum Clearance and Community Development and Redevelopment), Act of July 15, 1949, ch. 338, title I, 63 Stat. 413. Historical federal urban renewal program: authorized loans and capital grants to "local public agencies" for slum clearance and redevelopment; did not create the agencies, which are formed under state law. Official text: govinfo.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office.
2. Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-514, § 1301, 100 Stat. 2602. Created the qualified redevelopment bond (26 U.S.C. § 144(c)), a tax-exempt bond for redevelopment in designated blighted areas under state law. Official text: govinfo.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office.