Could Higher Taxes Be Sacramento's Answer To The Housing Crisis?
Mayor Darrell Steinberg said recently that Sacramento officials should “seriously consider a housing measure on the 2018 ballot" to help alleviate the city's housing crunch. Such a measure would mean selling bonds to fund affordable housing, or creating a more permanent revenue structure for the same purpose through fees or taxes, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Other major California cities have passed similar measures. In 2015, San Francisco voters approved a $310M bond measure. In 2016, Los Angeles voters overwhelmingly passed a $1.2B bond measure to build housing for the chronically homeless.
The mayor broached the subject after he lobbied the California Legislature for housing measures, along with the mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and other large California cities. One such measure includes Senate Bill 2, which would create a state-mandated real estate transaction fee to fund new housing.
Also, a statewide bond measure, totaling $4B, might appear on next year's ballot.
