DEVELOPERS MAY BE BILLED FOR LEASE-BACK COSTS.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff WriterAfter an audit found that Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County owed the federal government millions of dollars for improper lease-back deals on four welfare offices, two supervisors on Tuesday asked whether the money could be recouped from the deals' developers. ``There is a lot of money involved here,'' Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D. Edelman. said in making the motion with Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San . The motion also would require the county to follow the auditor's recommendations to review hundreds of other leases to ensure that state and federal guidelines are followed. The audit released last week found that the county must reimburse the federal government $6 million for a portion of the past lease payments on two buildings in El Monte El Monte (ĕl mŏn`tē), city (1990 pop. 106,209), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1912. A residential, industrial, and commercial city in the San Gabriel Valley, El Monte manufactures furniture, electronic equipment, semiconductors, and others in Glendale and West Los Angeles
The auditor also recommended that the county develop a policy of using capital leases that reflect the acquisition and incurrence of obligations when entering into long-term, build-to-suit leases and ensure that the proper documents are obtained when leasing buildings. The Board of Supervisors approved an operating lease Operating Lease A lease contract that allows the use of an asset, but does not convey rights similar to ownership of the asset. Notes: An operating lease is not capitalized it is accounted for as a rental expense. on the West Los Angeles welfare office in 2000, but auditors said they could not find any records to show why Sonnenblick-Del Rio was selected as the developer. The District Attorney's Office is investigating Sonnenblick Del-Rio as part of a bid-rigging probe. Prosecutors served search warrants on the county's Chief Administrative Office's Real Estate Division and its head, Chuck West, 55, of South Pasadena South Pasadena (păs'ədē`nə), city (1990 pop. 23,936), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1888. Medical supplies, clothing, and transportation and electronic equipment are manufactured. , for any vacation photos of West and his wife and any recordings demonstrating any conspiracy between West and the developers, according to the warrants. West, who was placed on paid leave Sept. 14, has denied he provided inside information to Sonnenblick-Del Rio or allowed officials to pay for his vacations to Jamaica, Europe and Breckenridge, Colo. Sonnenblick-Del Rio officials did not return calls for comment. Yaroslavsky also introduced on Tuesday a motion directing county lawyers to draft an ordinance prohibiting county employees from negotiating future employment or the promise of income with those who have business before the county. |
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