Funding Rental Subsidies for Affordable Housing Developments Serving Low Income Seniors, Families, and Persons with Disabilities
Shall the City amend the Charter to require the City to appropriate at least $8.25 million a year to pay for rental subsidies for affordable housing developments serving extremely low-income households of seniors, families, and persons with disabilities?
This measure requires 50%+1 affirmative votes to pass.
Digest by the Ballot Simplification Committee
The Way It Is Now:
State law requires San Francisco to adequately plan to meet the housing needs of people at all income levels in the community. Low-income households in San Francisco have incomes that do not exceed 80% of area median income (AMI). Extremely low-income (ELI) households have incomes that do not exceed 35% of AMI.
The City provides loans to acquire, build or rehabilitate affordable housing to meet the needs of low-income households, but these loan programs do not fully subsidize the difference between the cost to operate these units and the rents ELI households can afford. As a result, relatively few housing units are offered at rents affordable to ELI households.
The City funds rental subsidies for a limited number of affordable housing developments that make rental units available to ELI seniors. The City provides the funds directly to the owner to subsidize the rents of ELI seniors.
The City also provides rental subsidies for households that formerly experienced homelessness.
Some of the funding for these two subsidy programs comes from state or federal grants and other funding comes from the General Fund through the annual budget process. There is currently no permanent funding source or annual commitment to fund these programs. There are currently no equivalent programs for ELI families or persons with disabilities.
The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), which coordinates the City’s affordable housing policies, administers these loan and rental subsidy programs.
The Proposal:
Proposition G is a Charter amendment that would create an Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families and Persons with Disabilities (Fund).
Under Proposition G, each year the City would be required to contribute to the Fund:
- beginning in fiscal year 2026-27, at least $8.25 million a year; and
- until fiscal year 2045-46, at least the prior year amount, adjusted by up to 3% based on the City’s revenues.
If, in any year the City’s projected budget deficit is $250 million or more, the City may reduce its contribution to the Fund, provided that the City contributes at least $4 million in 2026-27 and at least $8.25 million in each later year.
Under Proposition G, MOHCD would administer the Fund by disbursing money to the owners of certain new and existing affordable housing developments in San Francisco to subsidize the rent of ELI households consisting of seniors, families or persons with disabilities with incomes up to 35% of AMI. The funds would subsidize the difference between the amount these tenants can afford and the rents the owner would otherwise charge. The Fund would end on December 31, 2046, unless voters reauthorize it.
A "YES" Vote Means: If you vote "yes," you want to amend the Charter to appropriate at least $8.25 million a year to pay for rental subsidies for affordable housing developments serving ELI households of seniors, families and persons with disabilities.
A "NO" Vote Means: If you vote "no," you do not want the City to make these changes.
Controller's Statement on "G"
City Controller Greg Wagner has issued the following statement on the fiscal impact of Proposition G:
Should the proposed Charter amendment be approved by the voters, in my opinion, it would have a significant impact on the cost of government in that it would reallocate funds that would otherwise be available, starting with at least $4 million in fiscal year (FY) 2026-27, $8.25 million in FY 2027-28, and increasing by up to 3% annually, rising to a maximum of approximately $14 million in FY 2045-46.
The proposed Charter amendment would create the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families, and People with Disabilities (Fund) for the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) to provide rental subsidies to extremely low-income (ELI) households. The Fund would expire on December 31, 2046 unless extended by the voters. Beginning March 1, 2025, the Controller would report annually the amount of funding from each non-General Fund source available to be appropriated to the Fund.
The amendment would require the City to appropriate funding every year, starting with $8.25 million in FY 2026-27. In subsequent years the City would be required to appropriate at least as much as the previous year and up to 3% more than the previous year through FY 2045-46. However, in years where the City projects a budget deficit of $250 million or more, the proposed amendment would allow the City to reduce the annual appropriation to $4 million in the first year and $8.25 million in each of the following years. Over the 20-year period the Fund would be active, total costs would range from $161 million to $222 million, depending on the financial health of the City and budgetary decisions of the Mayor and Board of Supervisors.
This proposed amendment is not in compliance with a non-binding, voter-adopted city policy regarding set-asides. The policy seeks to limit set-asides which reduce General Fund dollars that could otherwise be allocated by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors in the annual budget process. For context, in the FY 2023-24 budget, all baseline requirements totaled approximately $2.1 billion, or 30.7%, of the approximately $6.8 billion General Fund budget.
Note that the proposed amendment would change the duties of the Controller’s Office, which has prepared this statement.
How "G" Got on the Ballot
On July 23, 2024, the Board of Supervisors voted 11 to 0 to place Proposition G on the ballot. The Supervisors voted as follows:
Yes: Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen, Safai, Stefani, Walton.
No: None.
The above statement is an impartial analysis of this measure. Arguments for and against this measure immediately follow. The full text can be found under Legal Text. Some of the words used in the ballot digest are explained in Words You Need to Know.
Arguments are the opinions of the authors and have not been checked for accuracy by any official agency. Arguments are printed as submitted. Spelling and grammatical errors have not been corrected.
Proponent’s Argument in Favor of Proposition G
San Francisco is committed to expanding housing opportunities for seniors, families, and people with disabilities. Proposition G helps us toward achieving that goal.
Proposition G takes an essential step towards fulfilling our City's goal of expanding access to safe and affordable housing for households at all income levels. While San Francisco is making progress toward building new housing and upgrading existing units we also need to ensure that our lowest income seniors, families, and people with disabilities can qualify for them and are not left behind. This is a need that existing federal and state programs have been unable to adequately address.
Placed on the ballot with unanimous support of the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor, Proposition G will address this gap in our housing programs by:
- Committing a stable and consistent level of funding to increase affordability in our City's affordable housing
- Creating hundreds of more affordable units relying upon existing funding sources
- Keeping the most vulnerable San Franciscans housed and preventing them from becoming homeless
- Establishing a public process for the development and oversight of the program
This fund will work together with new and existing housing programs and increase their effectiveness, making hundreds of additional units affordable to extremely low-income households.
On November 5th, let's take this much needed step towards a more inclusive and affordable San Francisco. Join us and vote Yes on Prop G!
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin
Mayor London Breed
Chinatown Community Development Center
Compass Family Services
Council of Community Housing Organizations
Faith in Action
Mission Housing
Self-Help for the Elderly
Rebuttal to Proponent’s Argument in Favor of Proposition G
Proponents of Proposition G claim it will "create" housing. In reality, it's a short-sighted gamble that will further inflame San Francisco's housing crisis.
They promise "hundreds" of additional units, but ignore the risk Proposition G will fuel rent increases citywide. Emptying the general fund into rental subsidies, the measure feeds landlords at taxpayer expense, encouraging higher prices. This won't make housing more affordable—in fact, it will become more expensive for anyone who doesn’t win a literal lottery.
Existing programs are vulnerable to fraud and mismanagement. Why aren't we tightening standards? Recently, a San Francisco businessman admitted to stealing over $340,000 from Section 8 subsidies. Proposition G lacks necessary safeguards to prevent abuse, which drain resources meant for the truly needy.
San Francisco recently passed a substantial housing bond and secured $117 million in state and federal funding for affordable housing projects. Instead of Proposition G's risky subsidies; let's build on existing, funded long-term affordable housing programs that already address root causes.
Vote NO on Proposition G. Reject the illusion of progress, gambling with taxpayer money, squandering resources needed for real solutions.
Larry Marso, Esq.
Opponent's Argument Against Proposition G
Proposition G diverts the city's general fund to subsidize rent, a short-term "fix" with harsh long-term consequences. The measure drains critical resources from essential services like public safety, infrastructure, and education.
San Francisco's budget is already in a death spiral. Committing general funds to dubious subsidies further destabilizes City finances, causing automatic cuts elsewhere.
Rental subsidies are not effectively targeted. This program is another literal lottery—with winners and losers. The measure will drive up rents across the city. Landlords, fed by the City's general fund, will raise prices. Proposition G makes housing even less affordable for many San Franciscans. It's another "hot patch" over deep-rooted ills in our housing system that will burn at-risk residents who fail to qualify.
San Francisco needs comprehensive housing reforms that encourage more affordable units, streamline permitting, and incentivize private investment. Such solutions create sustainable, long-term improvements.
Vote NO on Proposition G and support housing reform that addresses the root causes of San Francisco's affordability crisis.
Larry Marso
Mr. Marso is a technology executive, M&A advisor and attorney. A staunch advocate for fiscal responsibility, he authored a ballot measure to regulate San Francisco navigation/linkage centers, has fought corruption and fraud in our political parties and nonprofits, and as a member and former executive of the local Republican Party committee, has offered principled opposition.
Stop the Big Fraud on San Francisco voters! visit: https://bigfraud.com
Larry S. Marso
Rebuttal to Opponent’s Argument Against Proposition G
Yes on G is supported by a diverse coalition from every corner of San Francisco—healthcare providers, faith leaders, community-serving organizations, housing advocates, and advocates for seniors, women and renters—who know what it takes to solve our housing crisis.
Prop G is an essential part of the solution that will expand housing opportunities for those who need it most without causing cuts to other essential services. It will:
- Fill a critical gap in the City's affordable housing system by lowering rents for those with the lowest incomes
- Tap existing housing funds that can fully support the program without touching the City's General Fund or impacting essential services
- Target subsidies to seniors and people with disabilities on fixed incomes, and families working minimum wage jobs
Join our united coalition working together on smart, responsible solutions that confront the roots of San Francisco's housing crisis. Vote Yes on G to create more safe and affordable housing!
Marie Jobling, Co-Chair, Dignity Fund Coalition
Sal Rosselli, President Emeritus, National Union of Healthcare Workers*
Bayview Senior Services
Compass Family Services
Community Youth Center of San Francisco
Council of Community Housing Organizations
Faith in Action
Mission Housing
San Francisco Tenants Union
*For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization.
Paid Arguments in Favor of Proposition G
1
YES ON G: LET'S BUILD AN AFFORDABLE FUTURE FOR ALL
Together we have built and preserved thousands of affordable housing units and are on our way to building thousands more. However, without Prop G, those earning the lowest incomes—our essential workers, seniors, and people with disabilities—remain unable to access these critical resources.
Yes on G represents a significant step toward addressing this imbalance. This measure is crucial for continuing our efforts to provide housing solutions where they are most needed. This proposition will:
- Create New Housing Opportunities: Prop G will open up more than 500 new affordable housing units for seniors and families with incomes below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), addressing the urgent need for truly affordable homes in our city.
- Target Resources to Those Most in Need: Ensure that future affordable housing sites are prioritized for those most vulnerable, making our housing efforts more equitable and effective.
- Support Citywide Housing Preservation: Bolster the city's preservation program, which is essential for maintaining the affordability of existing housing stock and preventing displacement.
San Francisco is at a critical juncture in its housing crisis. Let's invest in the stable future of our diverse communities and vote Yes on G for the San Franciscans who need it most.
Council of Community Housing Organizations
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
Chinatown Community Development Center
Community Forward SF
Mercy Housing
Mission Economic Development Agency
Mission Housing
San Francisco Community Land Trust
San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund
San Francisco Housing Development Corporation
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation
Women's Housing Coalition
Young Community Developers
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
2
YES ON G: SAN FRANCISCO'S SENIORS AND FAMILIES NEED AFFORDABLE HOUSING
In the last decade, while the median income in San Francisco has soared, incomes for our seniors and working families have barely budged. A single parent working full-time at minimum wage earns just $37,600 a year—insufficient to cover the rent for suitable family housing. Similarly, over 56% of our households with a senior or disabled member are rent-burdened, with median monthly incomes hovering around $1,500—barely 15% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Instead of secure living conditions, they face the constant threat of displacement.
Proposition G will provide hundreds of desperately needed affordable housing opportunities for these vulnerable groups. By supporting this measure, we help take care of our seniors who have contributed immensely to our city, and we ensure that working families can afford to stay and that their children can thrive in the communities they help build.
On November 5th, your vote for Yes on G is a commitment to a fairer, more inclusive San Francisco. It's a vote for a city where our children have a future and our seniors can enjoy their golden years in stability, not insecurity. Help us make San Francisco a place of hope and opportunity for all. Vote Yes on G!
Bayview Senior Services
Coleman Advocates
Community Youth Center of San Francisco
Dignity Fund Coalition
San Francisco Human Services Network
Senior and Disability Action
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
3
YES ON G: ALL TENANTS DESERVE STABLE, AFFORDABLE HOMES
Soaring rents are hitting our most vulnerable residents the hardest, making it increasingly difficult for seniors, families, and people with disabilities to access stable, affordable homes. Too often, people are forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads and putting food on the table.
Yes on G takes a crucial step towards ensuring that more affordable housing is available to those who need it most:
- Households on fixed incomes: Disabled tenants and seniors are often at the greatest risk of being priced out. This measure ensures that more units are available at rents they can afford, helping prevent displacement and homelessness.
- Families working minimum wage jobs: Hardworking families, despite full-time jobs, are struggling to find homes they can afford. This fund makes rents truly affordable, allowing them to remain in the communities they help to build.
San Francisco's affordability crisis demands urgent action. On November 5th, vote Yes on G to expand access to affordable housing and secure our community's future by ensuring that more homes are within reach for all.
San Francisco Tenants Union
Affordable Housing Alliance
Bill Sorro Housing Program
Eviction Defense Collaborative
Housing Rights Committee
North Beach Tenants Committee
San Francisco Anti Displacement Coalition
South of Market Community Action Network
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
4
AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS A MORAL CAUSE — LET US ALL COME TOGETHER TO SUPPORT PROPOSITION G
As faith leaders, we care for the spiritual wellbeing of our communities and our city. We know that ensuring basic access to housing for each of us is vital to the spiritual health of us all. In our city, so many of our seniors, disabled and low income neighbors are struggling to make ends meet — scraping by and unable to find housing they can afford. Many are sleeping on our streets, in cars, or in city shelters, experiencing deep hardship and trauma. Others are clinging to precarious stability by staying with family or friends or sacrificing most of what they earn to stay housed. These are grave injustices which people of all faiths are bound to oppose. Justice in our beloved city looks like housing that is affordable to elders, people with disabilities, and families. We all deserve a place to call home.
Rev. John Kirkley, St. James Episcopal Church
Rev. Arnold Townsend
Rev. Norman Fong, Parish Associate, Chinatown Presbyterian Church*
Rabbi Me'irah lliinsky, Or Shalom Jewish Community*
Joel Balzer, Elder, Grace Fellowship Community Church*
John Talbott, Elder, Cumberland Presbyterian Church*
Samantha Gutierrez-Graczak, Campus Minister, lnterVarsity Christian Fellowship*
Brenden Gutierrez-Graczak, Campus Minister, lnterVarsity Christian Fellowship*
GLIDE Foundation
*For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization.
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
5
YES ON PROP G: ENSURING HOUSING EQUITY FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY
San Francisco's Black community is highly overrepresented among the City's lowest income residents, leading to widespread housing insecurity and an increased risk of homelessness. Many in the community, including seniors, families, and Certificate of Preference holders, face significant barriers to accessing affordable housing due to a lack of deeply affordable housing units. Our community has faced these housing challenges for far too long.
Prop G will specifically fund housing for our City's lowest income residents. By creating more deeply affordable units, Prop G directly addresses systemic inequities and creates the opportunities our community needs to break into the affordable housing system.
We face a choice: continue to neglect the needs of hardworking families and seniors on fixed incomes or take decisive action to ensure our housing system is fair and inclusive.
Vote Yes on Prop G to build a future where every member of our Black community has access to safe, stable, affordable housing.
Young Community Developers
Bayview Senior Services
Black to the Future
Without Walls CDC
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
6
ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITIES SUPPORT AFFORDABLE SENIOR AND FAMILY HOUSING, YES ON G
Our communities urgently need more affordable housing — housing that is truly affordable for seniors and working families. Without access to affordable housing too many API seniors and families today are forced to live in unsafe and substandard conditions. Others are leaving the city because of the unaffordable cost of housing. Our communities and small businesses all lose when we cannot keep seniors and families in San Francisco. By committing existing funding to address this important need, Proposition G will create more housing opportunities without increasing taxes. Let's make housing for seniors and families a priority. Please vote Yes on Proposition G.
Anni Chung, Self-Help for the Elderly
Wing Hoo Leung, Community Tenants Association
Norman Yee, Former President of the Board of Supervisors
Pratibha Tekkey, Central City SRO Collaborative*
Asian Law Caucus
Chinatown Community Development Center
Chinese Progressive Association
SOMA Pilipinas
Tenderloin Chinese Rights Association
*For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization.
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
7
YES ON G: SUPPORTING THE LATINO COMMUNITY WITH DEEPLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Our Latino community is facing severe housing challenges including overcrowding and displacement. We need a solution that gets to the root of the problem by providing safe, stable and truly affordable housing for our lowest income neighbors. Unidos podemos pasar la Propuesta G, Vote yes on G!
Prop G is essential for our community because it will:
- Support Our Families: Create deeply affordable housing opportunities to prevent overcrowding, provide healthy living conditions, and improve academic outcomes for our students.
- Take Care of Our Elders: Ensure housing stability and affordable options that honor our hard working elders and prevent them from leaving the city in their senior years.
- Reverse the surge of Latino Homelessness: Provide a cost-effective, targeted solution that will get our neighbors stable housing at a time when the number of Latinos who are experiencing homelessness has increased by 55%.
As Latino serving organizations, we are united in our support for Proposition G because our children, hard working families, and seniors deserve better. On November 5th, let's vote Yes on G!
Latino Task Force
Faith in Action
Mission Economic Development Agency
People Organized to Demand Economic and Environmental Rights
San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition
United to Save the Mission
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: San Francisco Communities Against Displacement.
8
YES ON PROP G
KEEP OUR SENIORS AND WORKING FAMILIES HOUSED.
The San Franciscans most threatened with becoming homeless include low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and working families.
Prop G will dedicate $8 million per year of current City revenues to assist these vulnerable households to remain in their homes. This is a small investment for a huge benefit.
YES ON G THE BEST WAY TO SOLVE HOMELESSNESS IS TO PREVENT IT!
Build Affordable Faster California
John Elberling
Peter Stevens
The true source(s) of funds for the printing fee of this argument: Tenants and Owners Development Corporation.
Paid Arguments Against Proposition G
No Paid Arguments Against Proposition G Were Submitted
Legal Text
Proposition “Funding Rental Subsidies for Affordable Housing Developments Serving Low Income Seniors, Families, and Persons with Disabilities”
Describing and setting forth a proposal to the voters at an election to be held on November 5, 2024, to amend the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco to establish the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families, and People with Disabilities to fund project-based rental subsidies for extremely low-income households consisting of seniors, families, and persons with disabilities, and to require the City to appropriate at least $8.25 million to the Fund annually starting in Fiscal Year 2026-2027.
Section 1. Findings.
(a) California law requires the City to adopt a Housing Element that commits to approving an annual number of 1,748 units of housing, or 13,981 units total, over eight years, affordable to Extremely Low-Income (“ELI”) households with income up to 30% of the region’s Area Median Income (“AMI”). The rents affordable to households making 30% of AMI do not cover the costs of affordable housing projects, and as a result, project sponsors serving ELI households in affordable housing projects face a financial operating deficit. In addition, there are an insufficient number of higher-paying renters within affordable housing projects to cover the financial operating deficit that results from affordable rents for ELI households. Thus, project sponsors of affordable housing projects cannot subsidize a sufficient number of units for ELI renters to meet the City’s Housing Element goals and feasibly operate their affordable housing projects.
(b) Due to the high cost of developing and operating housing in San Francisco, most affordable housing rents are set at income limits that are out of reach for ELI households. The largest funding source for affordable housing development – the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) – is designed to make units affordable to households with incomes at 50%-60% of AMI, with rents up to twice that which would be affordable to ELI households. Additionally, the City’s Below Market Rate (“BMR”) units under the Inclusionary Housing Program (Planning Code Section 415 et seq.) are also out of reach for ELI (as well as very low-income) households, as the Inclusionary Housing Program only requires developers to set rents for low-income (55% of AMI), moderate-income (80% of AMI), and middle-income households (110% of AMI). Given these barriers to the production of affordable housing for ELI households, it is not surprising that the majority of affordable housing produced in San Francisco since 2005 has only targeted very low-income (30%-50% of AMI) and low-income (50%-80% of AMI) households.
(c) Seniors on fixed incomes and adults with disabilities are particularly rent-burdened. According to the Department of Disability and Aging Services (“DAAS”), there are approximately 52,600 households in San Francisco with a senior aged 62 years or older, and 20,000 households with a disabled adult aged 18-61 years. Of those households with a senior member, 33,900 income-qualify as ELI, and of those households with a disabled adult, 8,900 income-qualify as ELI.
(d) There are approximately 66,000 ELI households in San Francisco, and 80% of them are rent-burdened or paying more than 30% of their income on rent.
(e) While funding for the development and construction of affordable senior housing has historically been generated through affordable housing bond issuances, LIHTC, and MOHCD loans, the 15-year underwriting standards of private lenders and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (“MOHCD”) require rents affordable to low income households that are well out of reach for ELI households. Many affordable senior housing projects lack the rent subsidies that would be necessary to maintain rents required under such underwriting guidelines while charging affordable rents to ELI seniors, meaning that the seniors most in need of safe, stable, and affordable senior housing end up in our city’s Single Room Occupancy (“SRO”) hotels or shelter system – or worse, on the streets.
(f) Approximately 12% (or 8,000) of ELI households are families with children. A full-time minimum wage worker in San Francisco makes approximately $37,600 per year. A single parent working full-time at a minimum wage job does not earn enough to pay or qualify for two- or three-bedroom units at the majority of the City's affordable housing developments as their income falls just under 30% of AMI.
(g) The DAAS estimates that there are 41,900 ELI households with a senior or disabled member and that over 56% of those households are rent-burdened. The median monthly income of a single-senior household is $1,511, and that of a household consisting of a single adult with a disability is $1,493 – or approximately 15% of AMI in both cases. The rent for a studio apartment at a majority of the City’s affordable housing developments is only affordable to households with incomes at or above 50% of AMI.
(h) More than 75% of all ELI residents in the City are people of color. Forty-eight percent of African American, 31% of American Indian, 23% of Latino, and 22% of Asian households are ELI. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City funded the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (“ERAP”). Of ERAP’s 23,462 applicants, more than half had incomes below 19% of AMI and over 85% had incomes below 30% of AMI. Twenty-seven percent of applicants identified as Black or African American and almost 21% identified as Latino.
(i) The San Francisco Reparations Plan 2023, prepared by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, identified the establishment and enforcement of a City policy to prioritize the creation of low-income and acutely low-income housing based on 30% of AMI as a key policy recommendation (Policy Recommendation 1.5).
(j) The lack of stable and continuous operating subsidies leads to rents that disqualify the City’s neediest and most vulnerable populations, including rents for affordable housing acquired or preserved through bond funds. Affordable housing non-profits are struggling to acquire and preserve “small-sites,” funded through MOHCD, given the high cost of deferred maintenance and lack of operating subsidies to make the rents affordable to ELI households.
(k) Despite hundreds of millions raised from revenue measures, and unanimous Board of Supervisors support, the City’s budget has failed to fund crucial affordable housing strategies each year for ELI households, including seniors, families with children, and persons with disabilities. To ensure ELI households can afford to reside in the City’s affordable housing, the City must provide annual funding specifically to the City’s affordable housing serving ELI households.
(l) There have been dramatic cuts to United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) rental subsidy programs (including Section 8 low-income rent subsidies, HUD Section 202 housing program for seniors, and HUD Section 811 housing program for people with disabilities). The State of California does not fund any operating or rental subsidy programs.
(m) The Bay Area Housing Finance Agency (“BAHFA”) is expected to place a $20 billion regional affordable housing bond on the November 2024 ballot. While BAHFA’s Business Plan prioritizes the production of units for ELI households, the operating or rental subsidies needed to create ELI-affordable units are not an eligible use of bond revenue. The BAHFA Business Plan acknowledges that, “this housing type requires reliable, ongoing operating subsidies to successfully stabilize households’ tenancies” and that BAHFA expects to work closely with local jurisdictions to create the financing programs necessary to make ELI housing successful.
(n) This Charter Amendment addresses a chronic budgetary problem by setting aside a portion of the City’s existing revenue each year to fund project-based rent subsidies for existing and newly constructed or acquired permanent affordable housing for ELI households.
(o) The intent of this measure is to establish a minimum annual commitment of no less than $8.25 million, starting in Fiscal Year 2026-2027, to ensure access for ELI households to the City’s affordable housing. If there is a significant budget deficit, the funding for the first fiscal year may be reduced to $4 million and then will be $8.25 million in Fiscal Year 2027-2028 and thereafter.
(p) The City may fulfill its commitment to fund the expenditures this measure requires by appropriating funds from any number of sources, including but not limited to taxes collected under the Empty Homes Tax Ordinance (Business and Tax Regulations Code, Article 29A) and the Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax Ordinance (Business and Tax Regulations Code Article 28), or other similar special taxes, to the extent that the permissible expenditures in those special tax measures coincide with the expenditures this measure requires. Furthermore, any money in the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families, and People with Disabilities at the end of each fiscal year will be held in reserve for future use. Nothing in this measure requires that revenues from any special tax measure be appropriated for the uses in this measure.
(q) It is the further intent of this measure that the City maximize the number of ELI affordable housing units created by the Fund by entering into long term rent subsidy agreements with the City making annual contributions. The duration of such agreements should reflect the requirements of competitive regional, state and federal funding sources.
(r) It is the further intent of this measure to support the future growth and expansion of the Fund, subject to the future approval of voters, by developing sound, transparent, and effective policies with regular public reporting of program performance.
Section 2. The Board of Supervisors hereby submits to the qualified voters of the City and County, at an election to be held on November 5, 2024, a proposal to amend the Charter of the City and County by adding Section 16.132, to read as follows:
NOTE: Unchanged Charter text and uncodified text are in plain font.
Additions are single-underline italics Times New Roman font.
Deletions are strike-through italics Times New Roman font.
Asterisks (* * * *) indicate the omission of unchanged Charter subsections.
SEC. 16.132. AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITY FUND FOR SENIORS, FAMILIES, AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
(a) Establishment of Fund. There is hereby established the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families, and People with Disabilities (“Fund”) to be administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (“MOHCD”), or any successor agency. Monies therein shall be expended or used solely by MOHCD, subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter. Monies in the Fund shall accumulate interest which shall be credited to the Fund, provided that the balance in the Fund exceeds $50,000. Any unexpended and unencumbered balance remaining in the Fund at the close of any fiscal year shall be accumulated to the Fund.
(b) Purpose of Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to increase and fund project-based rent subsidies for permanently affordable housing to make rents affordable for Extremely Low-Income Households.
(c) Definitions.
“Acutely Low-Income Disabled Persons” shall mean households consisting of persons eligible for accessible units for disabled households and earning up to 15% of Median Income.
“Acutely Low-Income Seniors” shall mean households consisting of seniors and earning up to 15% of Median Income.
“Extremely Low-Income Disabled Persons” shall mean households consisting of persons eligible for accessible units for disabled households and earning up to 25% of Median Income, and including Acutely Low-Income Disabled Persons.
“Extremely Low-Income Families” shall mean single adults or families earning up to 35% of Median Income.
“Extremely Low-Income Seniors” shall mean households consisting of seniors and earning up to 25% of Median Income, and including Acutely Low-Income Seniors.
“Fund” shall mean the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund for Seniors, Families, and People With Disabilities, established in this Section 16.132.
“Housing Preservation Program” shall mean a program administered by MOHCD to preserve multifamily residential buildings or buildings with SRO Units as Permanent Affordable Housing that are at risk of loss of affordability or at risk of loss of the opportunity to create permanent housing affordability, due to vacancy decontrol or market speculation, and/or at risk due to their physical condition and need for life safety improvements.
“LOSP” shall mean the City’s Local Operating Subsidy Program that provides operating subsidies to residential buildings providing supportive housing for homeless individuals and families.
“Median Income” means the median income published annually by MOHCD for the City and County of San Francisco, adjusted solely for household size, and derived in part from the income limits and area median income determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the San Francisco area, but not adjusted for a high housing cost area.
“MOHCD” shall mean the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, or any successor agency.
“Permanent Affordable Housing” shall mean a multifamily housing building or a building with SRO Units that is: (1) regulated and monitored by the City under a recorded deed restriction, recorded regulatory agreement, and/or ground lease ensuring permanent affordability for the useful life of the property but for no less than 75 years; (2) 100% of the residential units are restricted to income qualified households (except any manager units) with a maximum average of not more than 80% of Median Income across all units in a project, but not to exceed 120% of Median Income for any unit; and (3) with a rent for all units in a project affordable to such households, at initial residence and at re-rental at no more than 30% of the maximum household income. Permanent Affordable Housing may include principally permitted non-residential uses on the ground floor, and non-residential uses that are accessory to and supportive of the affordable housing.
“Senior Housing” shall mean a multifamily residential building that is specifically designed for and occupied by senior households and complies with all applicable federal and state fair housing laws.
“Senior Operating Subsidies (SOS) Program Fund” shall refer to the program established to receive any monies appropriated or donated for the purpose of providing project-based subsidies to new senior affordable housing developments funded by the City to maintain rents that are affordable to extremely low-income senior residents with incomes at or below 30% of Median Income, or any successor program.
“SRO Unit” shall mean a Single Room Occupancy Unit and shall mean a dwelling unit or group housing room consisting of the following: (1) no more than one occupied room with a maximum gross floor area of 350 square feet and meeting the Housing Code’s minimum floor area standards; (2) which may have a bathroom in addition to the occupied room; and (3) as a dwelling unit, has a cooking facility and bathroom or, as a group housing room, it shares a kitchen with one or more other single room occupancy unit(s) in the same building and may also share a bathroom.
(d) Annual Appropriations to the Fund.
(1) In Fiscal Year 2026-2027, except as provided in subsection (d)(3), the City shall appropriate $8.25 million to the Fund.
(2) In each year after Fiscal Year 2026-2027, and through Fiscal Year 2045-2046, the City shall appropriate to the Fund an amount not less than the prior year’s appropriation, adjusted by the percentage increase or decrease in aggregate discretionary revenues, as determined by the Controller, based on calculations consistent from year to year, provided that the City may not increase appropriations to the Fund under this subsection (d)(2) by more than 3% in any fiscal year. In determining aggregate City discretionary revenues, the Controller shall only include revenues received by the City that are unrestricted and may be used at the option of the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors for any lawful City purpose.
(3) Notwithstanding subsections (d)(1) and (d)(2), the City may reduce the amount appropriated to the Fund in any fiscal year when the City’s projected budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year at the time of the March Joint Report or March Update to the Five Year Financial Plan as prepared jointly by the Controller, the Mayor’s Budget Director, and the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Analyst exceeds $250 million, adjusted annually beginning with Fiscal Year 2026-2027 by the percentage increase or decrease in aggregate City discretionary revenues, as determined by the Controller, based on calculations consistent from year to year; provided, however, that the amount appropriated to the Fund in Fiscal Year 2026-2027 shall be no less than $4 million and, thereafter, must be no less than $8.25 million in each fiscal year.
(4) The Controller shall set aside and maintain appropriations, together with any interest earned thereon, in the Fund.
(5) Commencing with a report filed no later than March 1, 2025, the Controller shall file annually with the Board of Supervisors, by March 1 of each year, a report containing the amount of monies from each non-general fund source projected to be available that may be appropriated to the Fund under this subsection (d).
(e) Uses of the Fund. The City, acting through MOHCD, shall disburse monies from the Fund through grants or other types of payments, on terms determined by MOHCD in its sole discretion. Any repayment of a grant or other payment from the Fund that the City receives will be returned to the Fund. Monies in the Fund shall be used to provide project-based rent subsidies only for new and existing Permanent Affordable Housing, provided that no more than 20% of annual funding from the Fund shall be used for the purpose of subsidizing existing Permanent Affordable Housing. Monies in the Fund shall be used to allow:
(1) Extremely Low-Income Seniors to afford a unit with rent restricted at 30% of 60% of Median Income in new or existing Permanent Affordable Housing that is Senior Housing and such households to pay a maximum rent not to exceed 30% of 15% of Median Income or 30% of 25% of Median Income, as applicable to the household’s income, with priority for Senior Housing that provides housing to persons at or over the age of 62; or
(2) Extremely Low-Income Families, prioritizing families with children, to afford a unit with rent restricted at 30% of 60% of Median Income in new or existing Permanent Affordable Housing, including a building with SRO Units, and such households to pay a maximum rent not to exceed 30% of 35% of Median Income; or
(3) Extremely Low-Income Disabled Persons to afford new or existing accessible units designated and designed for disabled households in Permanent Affordable Housing with rent restricted at 30% of 60% of Median Income and such households to pay a maximum rent not to exceed 30% of 15% of Median Income or 30% of 25% of Median Income, as applicable to the household’s income; or
(4) Extremely Low-Income Households to afford a unit with rent restricted at 30% of 60% of Median Income in an existing multifamily residential building, including an existing building with SRO Units, that will be acquired and preserved as Permanently Affordable Housing through funding under a Housing Preservation Program and such households to pay a maximum rent not to exceed 30% of 15% of Median Income, 30% of 25% of Median Income, or 30% of 35% of Median Income, as applicable to the household’s income.
Monies in the Fund shall not be used to provide rent subsidies directly to tenants to lease residential units, to provide subsidies for the sole purpose of an operating deficit, or to provide any other form of housing assistance that is not supporting Extremely Low-Income Households to afford a Permanent Affordable Housing unit. Except for expanding the availability of existing Senior Operating Subsidies (SOS) Program Fund programs, monies in the Fund shall not be used to replace or supplant funding for other rent subsidy programs existing as of the date this Section 16.132 was added to the Charter, including, but not limited to, LOSP housing or its successor programs.
(f) Implementation Policies and Annual Report.
(1) No later than June 1, 2025, MOHCD shall publish a report describing and analyzing implementation policy options that would maximize the number of ELI affordable senior, family, and accessible units through the provision of project-based rent subsidies in both new affordable housing and preservation projects.
(2) Beginning with the end of Fiscal Year 2026-2027, within 150 days of the end of each fiscal year, MOHCD shall file with the Board of Supervisors a report describing the status of any project authorized to be funded under this Section 16.132. MOHCD may combine such report with any other annual reporting obligations to the Board of Supervisors.
(g) Legislation. The City may enact ordinances establishing additional requirements for use of the Fund consistent with the purposes of this Section 16.132.
(h) Expiration. This Section 16.132 shall expire by operation of law on December 31, 2046, following which the City Attorney may cause it to be removed from the Charter unless the Section is extended by voters.