Regional leaders are exploring ways to keep affordable housing production high and seeking a significant source of funding.
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) wants to put a multibillion-dollar bond measure on the November ballot, with the funds going to the region’s nine counties to help facilitate affordable housing. Details of the bond have yet to be determined, although BAHFA is considering a range between $10 billion and $20 billion.
SV@Home hosted a panel Friday on the measure as part of its 2024 kickoff event, featuring state Sen. Dave Cortese, Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing Director Consuelo Hernandez and consultant affordable housing Matt Huerta, moderated by Working Partnerships USA Executive Director María. Noel Fernandez.
BAHFA is scheduled to approve the bond language for the June 26 ballot. Santa Clara County could receive up to $2 billion from the proposed regional bond based on estimated amounts.
Huerta said during the panel that a funding source of that scale would immediately help finance dozens more projects, compared to existing competition for funding.
“If we can have a strong, meaningful and flexible new source of funding, this could be a game-changer,” he said.
The county has relied on Measure A, a $950 million bond measure approved by voters in 2016, to fund affordable housing projects. Hernandez previously told San José Spotlight that Measure A helped pay for more than 6,000 affordable homes across the county, although funds from the measure will be spent by the end of 2024.
Santa Clara County needs 128,773 new homes in all its cities and unincorporated areas by 2031, 72,848 of which must be affordable or below 120% of the area median income. In 2023, the area median income for a family of four in Santa Clara County was $181,300.
Hernandez said during the panel that the county is working on a variety of housing projects aimed at specific communities, including mixed-use projects.
Cortese said the state has not been nimble enough in supporting housing production, but the county’s work to speed up bureaucratic processes makes him optimistic.
While the bond is not yet on the ballot, all three panelists stressed the importance of informing voters of its existence. Cortese said Proposition 1’s thin passage in March was enough to show that voters were likely skeptical about such measures, making the campaign daunting.
“It’s going to take empathy from the community, and in this case, we’re talking about a community of 101 cities and nine counties,” he told San José Spotlight.
Panelists pointed to community organizations as an important outreach mechanism to inform voters about the bond. SV@Home Executive Director Regina Williams said it will be important for people who benefit from the bonus to be able to work alongside those working to approve it, so that information and communication channels are accessible to everyone.
Susan Ellenberg, chairwoman of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said that as homelessness increases in the county, it is important to prevent people from becoming homeless while housing is being built. She added that building voter confidence around this measure will be critical to its approval.
“It is up to us to make the case that we are moving in the right direction and that when we ask voters to spend more money to build housing, they can trust that this crisis will eventually come to an end. “Ellenberg told San José Spotlight. “Sometimes it’s hard to see, but I think it will be that way.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.
