How do we get to affordable housing?
Happy Affordable Housing month.
This month there have been many activities and educational opportunities across Santa Cruz County centered on affordable housing. I kicked off the month with a mayoral proclamation declaring May as affordable housing month in the city of Santa Cruz.
This week, I participated in the groundbreaking event for two downtown housing developments. I also sat on a housing panel that discussed the importance of the housing element update and how it impacts our city and region's supply of affordable housing, housing development and growth. A Housing Element provides an analysis of a community's housing needs, for all income levels, and strategies to respond to those housing needs.
As we update our housing element, we have to ensure there is fair housing, affordable housing in high-resource neighborhoods, and more equitable and inclusive neighborhoods. We also have to update decades of policy that have created exclusion, racial and economic segregation, and housing shortages. The planning process can be complicated and confusing, but we're so excited to be working through it.
Currently, through the Housing Authority of Santa Cruz there are about 700 vouchers in the pipeline. With vouchers, a market rate home can also be an option for a low-income tenant. A low-income tenant in Santa Cruz is someone who earns 80% or less the area median income, which currently translates to $78,050 a year or below.
The city has 2,100 homes in the pipeline, some that are in the initial application phase and some already in construction. This includes more than 600 affordable homes, more than 200 of which are supportive housing.
More than 1,200 of the homes, and more than 400 of the designated affordable housing, are planned to be located in the downtown core. This includes four projects that are 100% affordable, such as Cedar Street apartments and Pacific Station South, next to the Santa
Cruz Metro Center transit, which broke ground this week. Coming in as soon as 2023 are Pacific Station North, and the upcoming Downtown Library Affordable Housing project, which will be the City's largest 100% lowincome housing development with 124 homes. All of these mixed-use projects
will bring needed homes and new amenities for all residents to enjoy in our downtown core.
While we have accomplished much, including meeting current Regional Housing Needs Assessment goals for nearly all income levels, some of these housing developments have taken many years of process and the piecing together of various funding sources to make them happen. We still have a lot more work to
do, and our next round of required assessment goals are much, much higher.
Continuing to build affordable housing and continuing the levels of service Santa Cruz residents have come to expect from their city requires resources. The city was heavily impacted by COVID-19, and revenues declined significantly, while community needs increased. For the past two years, the city has reduced its budget and secured
additional state and federal dollars to fund programs. We have been successful in these pursuits, but we are still recovering.
In March, the City Council declared a fiscal emergency and voted unanimously to place a half-cent sales tax measure on the June 7 ballot, and it's called Measure F. The tax would add 5 cents to a $10 purchase, and, because Santa Cruz is a tourist destination, at least
50% of the revenue generated would come from visitors.
The additional revenue from Measure F will help us continue to address community needs, such as investing in more affordable housing, creating reliable services that help unhoused individuals on a pathway to housing and modernizing our firefighting services to help reduce the risk of wildfire in our open spaces.
All funds raised by Measure
F would stay here in Santa Cruz, and those who visit and shop in Santa Cruz would contribute fairly to our recovery. Measure F would provide locally controlled revenue to maintain and expand essential services we all depend on, and that's why I am supporting a Yes on Measure F in June. For information, visit cityofsantacruz.com/Measure F.