Senate Finance Committee Hearing on July 20th

 

This weekend, I saw a replay of a hearing the United States Senate Finance Committee held a month ago.  The Senators interviewed a variety of representatives of home builders, funders, and advocates about their views on several pieces of legislation being considered.  I came away even more convinced that changes being made to the low income tax credit (responsible for 90% of the financing of subsidized housing in the country) would be enacted into law in the next couple of years.  The changes being considered would allow the funds to be used to build housing for a larger segment of area median income-eligible residents.  Expanding the parameters twenty percent up and twenty percent down would provide enough profits on the high end to pay for reaching down to the low.

   

HOUSING DEVELOPMENT COSTS vs. INCOMES SONOMA COUNTY and CALIFORNIA 2000 - 2022

 

Greetings!

This afternoon, the City of Santa Rosa will be presenting at a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the Housing Authority a report it has prepared on the current condition of housing in the City, and what it plans on doing to meet the housing needs of its residents going forward.  At the meeting, I plan on congratulating the City for its report, and for its continued attempts to provide affordable housing. 

Here is a link to the Santa Rosa Draft Housing Element.

I also plan to mention an excellent report prepared by John Lowry, who served as the Executive Director of Burbank Housing Development Corporation.  Burbank has produced a great number of the low income houses in the City, with funding from a variety of governmental sources.  His excellent report details why it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so, and what needs to be done to reverse that trend.

Here is a link to that paper.