Supervisors amend and continue review of proposed $300M housing bond, add survivor-housing carve-out

The Budget & Finance Committee on Oct. 25 considered a proposed $300 million general-obligation bond for affordable housing to be placed on the March 5, 2024 special election ballot. Board President Aaron Peskin (identified in the transcript as the item sponsor) proposed a set of amendments that the committee approved and continued the amended items for further review.

Eric Shaw, director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, presented the bond’s goals and pipeline: roughly 1,500 units of new affordable housing, funding for preservation and a proposed $30 million allocation for victims and survivors of domestic or street violence as amended by President Peskin. Shaw said bond proceeds would be combined with other local, state and federal sources to close project financing gaps and that high development costs and interest-rate risk require flexibility in fund use and timing.

The BLA summarized two competing proposals (the Mayor’s and President Peskin’s) and noted differences in allocations — the mayor’s version included down-payment assistance while the Peskin amendment reallocated that portion to victim/survivor housing. The BLA also flagged fiscal impacts, showing a bond at ~6.5% interest could carry significant interest costs over time, and reported there are unspent proceeds from prior bond issuances ($165M unspent and $175M authorized but unissued) that affect pipeline timing.

Supervisors asked MOHCD to provide lists of projects tied to unspent proceeds and those planned to receive the new $300M; they stressed the need for geographic distribution so high-resource areas do not receive all funding. Dozens of public commenters, including nonprofit housing developers, veterans’ groups, and the Women’s Housing Coalition, voiced strong support for the bond and the survivor carve-out and urged climate and electrification provisions for preservation funding.

President Peskin moved to amend items 10 and 11 with findings on labor and job quality, climate plan adherence, a $30M victims-and-survivors allocation, pass-through protections for tenants, and senior housing priorities; the committee approved the amendments and continued the two items to the Nov. 1 committee meeting for final action. Items 8 and 9 were tabled.