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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Smart Voter
San Francisco County, CA November 2, 2004 Election
Proposition A
Affordable Housing Bonds
City of San Francisco

Two-Thirds Majority

209,259 / 64.20% Yes votes ...... 116,706 / 35.80% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Information shown below: Summary | Yes/No Meaning | Official Information |

Shall the City borrow $200,000,000 to buy, build or renovate supportive and affordable housing and assist low- and moderate-income individuals and households to buy a home?

Summary:
THE WAY IT IS NOW: State law requires that the City's General Plan must describe San Francisco's housing needs, set goals for providing housing and develop programs to meet those goals. Some of these programs develop housing affordable to low- and moderate-income households and help persons with low and moderate incomes buy their homes.

When the City provides money for these programs, larger amounts of money are frequently made available from other public and private sources. The City pays for these programs from property and hotel taxes, state and federal funds, the City's General Fund and voter-approved bond measures. The City expects that funds from current sources will not be enough to meet its future low- and moderate- income housing goals.

THE PROPOSAL: Proposition A would allow the City to borrow $200,000,000 by issuing general obligation bonds. The City would use this money to make grants or loans to buy, build or renovate housing:

o $90,000,000 would be used for housing with supportive services for homeless or extremely low-income individuals and households that are at risk of becoming homeless (earning no more than 30% of the Area median income).

o $60,000,000 would be used for rental housing for individuals and households of very-low- and low-income (earning no more than 60% of the Area median income).

o $25,000,000 would be used to develop ownership housing for individuals and households of low- and moderate-income (earning between 60% and 90% of the Area median income).

o $25,000,000 would be used to help individuals and households of low- and moderate-income (earning between 60% and 100% of the Area median income) buy a home.

Proposition A would require an increase in property taxes to pay for the bonds. Principal and interest on general obligation bonds are paid by property tax revenues. Landlords could pass on to tenants in rent-controlled units half the increase in property taxes resulting from this bond measure.

Proposition A would require that:

o Any contract paid for with bond funds must be awarded through a competitive process.

o Priority must be given to projects that receive a large share of their total funding from sources other than the City.

o No bond funds may be used to lobby elected officials.

o No bond funds may be used to help purchase a property if the property owner had evicted tenants in order to move into the property.

o Consideration must be given to the environmental impact of building methods.

A two-thirds majority vote is required for passage of this bond measure.

Meaning of Voting Yes/No
A YES vote of this measure means:
If you vote "yes," you want the City to borrow $200,000,000 to buy, build or renovate supportive and affordable housing and assist low- and moderate-income individuals and households to buy a home.

A NO vote of this measure means:
If you vote "no," you do not want the City to borrow $200,000,000 for these purposes.

Official Sources of Information
  Nonpartisan Information

League of Women Voters

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Created: December 15, 2004 13:36 PST
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