Staff requests that the City Council consider adopting the attached resolution supporting Senate Bill 2 (Atkins), Building Homes and Jobs Act, and Senate Bill 3 (Beall), Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018. Included as Attachments A and B are support letters for SB 2 and SB 3. 

There is growing recognition that a housing crisis exists in the Bay Area. The costs for both rental and for-sale housing in Union City and the rest of the Bay Area have risen substantially in recent years, causing displacement and difficulty finding housing for people at all income levels. Extremely low and low-income households are hit the hardest by the housing crisis. The inability to find affordable housing is also fueling a homelessness crisis and making it difficult to house people experiencing homelessness. Affordable housing is a critical resource that provides a stable, safe environment for members of the local workforce as well as seniors, people with disabilities, and others on fixed incomes.

Through the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process completed by the Association of Bay Area Governments in 2013, Union City’s assigned share of the regional housing need was 1,190 units, including 581 units affordable to low- and very low income families. However, with the dissolution of redevelopment agencies by the State of California in 2012, Union City and other California cities lost an annual $1 billion (statewide) for new affordable housing.

State Senators Toni Atkins and Jim Beall have authored two senate bills that would provide funding for affordable housing:  SB 2 (Atkins), Building Homes and Jobs Act, and SB 3 (Beall), Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018. These senate bills are scheduled to be heard by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing in early 2017. 

SB 2 (Atkins) - Building Homes and Jobs Act

The Building Homes and Jobs Act will utilize a pay as you go approach and generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually for affordable housing through a $75 recordation fee on specified real estate documents. The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimated in 2015 that ongoing recording fee revenues would range from $300 - $500 million annually. This measure would provide an ongoing, permanent source of funding that would allocate 50% of the proceeds to local governments, so that they may be used to address housing needs at the local level.   Funds will be used for the development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of housing, including transitional and permanent rental housing, workforce housing, supportive services, foreclosure mitigation, and homeownership programs. 

SB 3 (Beall) - Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018

The Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 would authorize a $3 billion general obligation bond to fund existing affordable housing programs and infill infrastructure projects. Proceeds from the last state housing bond (2006) have been expended and other state and federal funding sources have slowly eroded or have been discontinued. The $3 billion generated from SB 3 would be allocated as follows:

• Multi-family Housing Program - $1.5 billion
• Transit Oriented Development - $600 million
• Transit Oriented Development Implementation Program ($200 million)
• Infill Infrastructure Financing Account ($300 million)
• Building Equity and Growth in Neighborhoods (BEGIN) Program ($100 million)
• Special Populations Housing - $600 million
• Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Fund ($300 million)
• Local Housing Trust Fund ($300 million) – provides matching grants to local public agencies and nonprofits that raise money for affordable housing
• CalHome Program - $300 million

As a fiscal bill, SB 3 must receive a two-thirds majority vote in each house of the Legislature to move forward for the Governor's signature. If signed into law, the bond will be placed on the November 6, 2018 statewide ballot as a proposition that will require a simple majority approval by the voters.

SB 2 and SB 3 would provide an important new resource for developing affordable rental housing and providing affordable homeownership opportunities in Union City, assist the City towards its RHNA goals, and help the City achieve numerous policy goals as laid out in the General Plan.

Approval of this Resolution will not result in a fiscal impact to the General Fund of the City.  

Staff recommends that the City Council adopted the attached resolution supporting Senate Bill 2 (Atkins), Building Homes and Jobs Act, and Senate Bill 3 (Beall), Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018.