Glendale, Pasadena stand up to California

Pasadena also asked for $132.9 million to pay off redevelopment-related debts, but was denied. Loans between cities and their redevelopment agencies will only hold if the contracts were created within the first two years of the Redevelopment Agency being formed.

The potential loss of money to repay the loans is one of the biggest issued for Pasadena “and all the other cities, specifically the cities that have joined us in the lawsuit,” Boyer said.

Suing the state “is the right thing for us to do to protect our taxpayers,” he added.

Existing bonds are also at stake, according to the lawsuit. While cities believed they'd be able to pay off bonds entered into before redevelopment's dissolution, the state has been rejecting some bonds it deems inappropriate. The cities claim that's illegal.

In cities like Glendale, local redevelopment revenues paid for the salaries of dozens of employees. Many of those jobs are now on the line as cities struggle to close yawning budget gaps without the aid of redevelopment revenues.

In Glendale, six employees received layoff notices earlier this month, the first of more than two dozen who are expected to be cut from the city's payroll due to the loss of local redevelopment revenues. Pasadena has already laid off 14 employees, some of whose salaries were tied to redevelopment revenues.

The other cities listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Palmdale, Huntington Beach, Imperial Beach, Inglewood, National City, Hayward and Culver City.

jason.wells@latimes.com

brittany.levine@latimes.com

adolfo.flores@latimes.com