(a) For the purpose of allocating taxes pursuant to Section 33670 and subject to the provisions of this article, redevelopment project areas under the jurisdiction of a redevelopment agency for which redevelopment plans have been adopted pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 33360), may be merged, without regard to contiguity of the areas, by the amendment of each affected redevelopment plan as provided in Article 12 (commencing with Section 33450). Before adopting the ordinance amending each affected redevelopment plan, the legislative body shall find, based on substantial evidence, that both of the following conditions exist:

(1) Significant blight remains within one of the project areas.

(2) This blight cannot be eliminated without merging the project areas and the receipt of property taxes.

(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), taxes attributable to each project area merged pursuant to this section that are allocated to the redevelopment agency pursuant to Section 33670 may be allocated to the entire merged project area for the purpose of paying the principal of, and interest on, indebtedness incurred by the redevelopment agency to finance or refinance, in whole or in part, the merged redevelopment project.

(2) If the redevelopment agency has, prior to merger of redevelopment project areas, incurred any indebtedness on account of a constituent project area so merged, taxes attributable to that area that are allocated to the agency pursuant to Section 33670 shall be first used to comply with the terms of any bond resolution or other agreement pledging the taxes from the constituent project area.

(c) After the merger of redevelopment projects pursuant to subdivision (a), the clerk of the legislative body shall transmit a copy of the ordinance amending the plans for projects to be merged to the governing body of each of the taxing agencies that receives property taxes from or levies property taxes upon any property in the project.

(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 595, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2007.)