Nov 23, 2024 | Legislation, Housing, Taxes
By Kota Suzuki,Data team intern
Nov 20, 2024
Over the last several decades, an increasing number of California cities have transitioned to “charter cities,” and many more could follow suit. The main obstacle? Recent elections show many residents don’t actually want that designation.
Charter cities in California are incorporated jurisdictions that can impose special taxes at higher rates and with greater flexibility than the state law allows. To become a charter city, a city has to adopt a charter through a majority vote of the city’s electorate.
Sep 23, 2024 | Opinion, Legislation, Taxes
by Susan Kirsch
September 22,2024
Too much debt
Proposition 5 will introduce a tsunami of long-termdebt.
Prop 5 will reduce the approval threshold for localaffordable housing and public infrastructure bonds from the current two-thirdsvoter requirement to 55%, making it easier for cities, counties and specialdistricts to pass these measures.
Aug 25, 2024 | Legislation, Opinion, Taxes
By SUSAN SHELLEY
August 24, 2024
Proposition 5 makes it easier to raise property taxes.
The November ballot measure gets around Proposition 13’s limitations on property tax increases by making it easier for local governments to pass bonds, a method of borrowing money that is then paid back — with interest — by adding extra charges to property tax bills, sometimes for decades.
Aug 15, 2024 | Taxes, Housing
By TIM REDMOND
AUGUST 15, 2024
The $20 billion regional housing bond that was supposed to be on the November ballot would have been a game changer. The money would have paid for 70,000 units of non-market affordable housing, enough to make a dramatic difference in homelessness, housing costs, air quality, and so, so much more. Nolw it’s gone.
Aug 14, 2024 | Housing, Taxes
BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
AUGUST 14, 2024
Backers pulled a $20 billion affordable housing bond off Bay Area ballots today, amid fears that it wouldn’t pass.
A $20 billion affordable housing bond — which would have been the largest ever of its kind and the subject of a campaign half-a-decade in the making — won’t go before San Francisco Bay Area voters this November after all. This morning, the board of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority voted to scrap the measure for now, potentially punting the effort until at least 2026.
Aug 13, 2024 | Housing, Taxes
By Ben Christopher
August 13, 2024
California’s most unaffordable region is set to vote on a record-breaking affordable housing bond. Will state Democrats add a pro-union requirement to win over a powerful labor coalition?
But before developers, workers, pro-tenant and pro-building activists can start campaigning for the blockbuster borrowing measure in earnest, they’ll need to stop squabbling over who will get hired to build all the new homes and under what conditions.
