Department of Finance
915 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Final and Conclusive Enforceable Obligation Determination

Health and Safety Code Section 34177.5 (i)  states “If an enforceable obligation provides for an irrevocable commitment of property tax revenue and where allocation of such revenues is expected to occur over time, the successor agency may petition the Department of Finance to provide written confirmation that its determination of such enforceable obligation as approved in a Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule is final and conclusive, and reflects the department’s approval of subsequent payments made pursuant to the enforceable obligation.  If the confirmation is granted, then the department’s review of such payments in future Recognized Obligation Payment Schedules shall be limited to confirming that they are required by the prior enforceable obligation.”

PROCESS FOR PETITIONING A FINAL AND CONCLUSIVE DETERMINATION

• The Successor Agency must submit a formal written request to the Department of Finance (Finance).
• Finance will review the request to determine whether the following conditions have been met:
  • The Enforceable Obligation provides for an irrevocable commitment of property tax revenue.
  • Verification that the allocation of the property tax revenue is expected to occur over time.
  • Verification that the Enforceable Obligation was approved on a previous Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS).  Although an Enforceable Obligation was listed on a ROPS and was never objected to by Finance during one of the previous review periods, the obligation may not be considered enforceable per HSC Section 34171 (d).  Because Finance performs its reviews on a sample-basis during each review period, a Final and Conclusive Determination can only be made after Finance has conducted a thorough review of the Enforceable Obligation.  Our review of whether or not the issue is an Enforceable Obligation will be similar to the reviews we conduct during our ROPS reviews.  During our review, Finance may contact the Successor Agency to request any additional information we feel may be vital to our review.
• If the conditions above have been met, Finance will issue a formal letter confirming the Final and Conclusive nature of the Enforceable Obligation.

PRIORITIZATION OF FINAL AND CONCLUSIVE DETERMINATION REQUESTS

There is no statutory timeframe in which Finance must complete its review of a request for a Final and Conclusive Enforceable Obligation determination.  Finance will address each request on a first-come, first-served basis and will conduct our review based on an internal prioritization of workload.  All workload with prescribed due dates in statute will take priority over the review of these requests.  Finance will not be able to conduct reviews of these requests during the time periods in which we are also conducting our ROPS reviews.  Additionally, if the Enforceable Obligation that is being requested for a Final and Conclusive determination has never been reviewed by Finance as part of our sample selection made during a previous ROPS review, it will likely take longer for Finance to make its determination.        

PETITIONING FINANCE TO CONDUCT A FINAL AND CONCLUSIVE DETERMINATION

To request a Final and Conclusive Determination of an Enforceable Obligation, please download and complete the form below. Once the form has been filled out, email the request to Redevelopment_Administration@dof.ca.gov.  In the subject line, please use the following naming convention “[City or County Name] F&C EO Request.”

• Final and Conclusive Enforceable Obligation Request Form

Determination Letters

• Link to Final and Conclusive Determination Letters

Webpage last updated October 4, 2012