Supervisors back sending veterans housing priority ordinance to full board after cost questions

San Francisco’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee on July 7 voted to send an ordinance to the full Board that would add a veterans priority inside each existing affordable‑housing preference category, a change supporters say will reduce veteran homelessness.

Supervisor Gordon Marr, sponsor of the measure called the Veterans Affordable Housing Access Act, said the ordinance would not create a new preference but would give veterans who meet existing preference categories priority within those categories for below‑market-rate rental and home‑ownership programs. "This is tremendously important legislation that will prevent homelessness and expand access to affordable housing for military veterans in our city," Marr said.

The Budget & Legislative Analyst (BLA) presented implementation considerations. Nick Menard of the BLA said modifying the city’s DALIA housing lottery system to give veterans priority inside each of the four existing categories would be technically complex and would likely take about 2,600 hours (roughly one year of staff time), about 1.5 FTE, and an estimated one‑time cost described in testimony as "between 3 and 400000 dollars". Menard added that a simpler but less meaningful alternative would be to create a single fifth veterans category, but that option would likely be lower‑impact because it would fall after the existing priorities.

The Veterans Affairs Commission and dozens of veterans and service providers urged the supervisors to pass the measure. Jason Chittavong, a commissioner and former Marine, told the committee the ad hoc BMR group’s analysis indicates the change would not adversely affect communities of preference and would help veterans transition out of homelessness.

Supervisors probed the funding and implementation path; Marr said the one‑time implementation cost was not specifically included in the recent budget and that the Board and mayor’s office would need to identify a funding source or consider a budget supplemental. Vice Chair Connie Chan, who cosponsored the ordinance, said she supported the proposal but emphasized the need to ensure the city can deliver the change in a timely way if it is approved.

The committee voted to send the ordinance with a positive recommendation to the full Board (roll call: Mandelmann aye; Chan aye; Preston I).

Next steps: If the full Board approves the ordinance, staff will need to work with Digital Services and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development on funding and a schedule for modifying the DALIA housing lottery system and testing the change.