Bay Area Mayors Rally for Housing Bond
Several Bay Area mayors, including San Jose's Matt Mahan, rallied with housing advocates to build support for an affordable housing bond. The event was held to emphasize the urgent need for increased funding to address the ongoing housing crisis throughout the region.
- The proposed measure was a $20 billion general obligation bond intended to fund the construction and preservation of affordable housing across the nine Bay Area counties. - This regional housing bond was officially pulled from the November 2024 ballot by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) in August 2024, with plans to potentially reintroduce it in 2026. - Had it passed, the bond aimed to create approximately 72,000 affordable homes, which would have doubled the region's current production and preservation efforts over the next 15 years. - Backers withdrew the measure due to concerns it wouldn't reach the required two-thirds voter approval, a pending lawsuit over "false and/or misleading" ballot language, and uncertainty surrounding another statewide measure, Proposition 5, which could lower the voter threshold for such bonds to 55% in the future. - The cost to property owners would have been an estimated tax of about $19 per $100,000 of assessed value. - Under the proposal, 80% of the revenue would have been allocated directly to the nine counties and four designated cities (San Jose, Oakland, Santa Rosa, and Napa) for their local housing priorities. - A significant portion of the Bay Area's population struggles with housing costs; 82% of residents consider it a "very serious" problem, and about 56% of renter households are "cost-burdened," paying over 30% of their income on rent. - San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has also been advocating for shifting city funds from permanent affordable housing construction toward more immediate, temporary housing solutions to address the homelessness crisis.
