TO: Napa County Housing Commission
FROM: Jennifer Palmer, Executive Director of Housing Authority
REPORT BY: Alex Carrasco, Project Manager
SUBJECT: Bay Area Housing Finance Authority Bond Initiative Updates
RECOMMENDATION
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Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) bond initiative updates. No action needed.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On July 25, 2023, Housing Authority staff presented the Housing Commission with an overview of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority’s (BAHFA) mandate to create regional solutions that meet the Bay Area’s affordable housing needs. Today, staff will provide an update to the proposed bond and its local implications. This is a standing item, no action needed.
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Staff Report
2. Public Comments.
3. Discussion, no action needed.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
In 2019, the California Legislature established the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, or “BAHFA”, via Assembly Bill 1487 to help meet the Bay Area’s housing needs. Specifically, BAHFA has adopted a “3Ps Framework” to ensure housing is available to all Bay Area residents, no matter their income: 1. Protection for current residents to avoid displacement, 2. Preservation of existing housing affordable to lower- and middle-income residents, and 3. Production of new housing at all income levels, especially affordable housing.
Currently the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 cities address most housing issues individually, with limited staff and financial resources. BAHFA encourages and supports coordination, regional thinking and working together to tackle the housing crisis on a larger scale. The BAHFA Board (which is compromised of the same members as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)), and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Executive Board share governing responsibilities for BAHFA. In addition, a 9-member Advisory Committee provides consultation to BAHFA and the ABAG Executive Board to assist their decision-making.
In 2020, the Bay Area was on track to pursue a $10 billion General Obligation (GO) bond measure but the economic hardships resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic forced postponement. Since that time, BAHFA has been building its internal team as well as strengthening relationships with local jurisdictions and key housing stakeholders across the region. BAHFA is now exploring placement of a $10 billion GO bond dedicated to affordable housing on the November 2023 ballot across the region’s nine counties. Such a measure would generate gap funding to produce and preserve as many as 45,000 affordable homes, providing housing for more than half a million low-income households. Because affordable housing financing almost exclusively relies on leveraging local, state and federal funds, the $10 billion raised is estimated to leverage an additional $15 billion in other affordable housing resources. GO bonds must pass with a two-thirds majority vote.
Generation Housing (Gen H) is a non-profit organization focused on providing public education for decision-makers and policymakers about housing policy solutions to improve the housing system. Gen H conducts research develops reports and acts as a convener to align diverse local interests around effective housing solutions to meet local and regional housing goals.
Solving Napa County’s current housing needs will have positive ripple effects. The availability of safe, stable, and affordable housing for the local workforce and community members is a critical driver for individual economic opportunity, better educational performance, and improved health outcomes. The future economic vitality and resilience of our county is strengthened when young workers, students, and families can afford not only to live here, but live free from housing cost burden. Investment in housing production is a powerful economic engine and job creator. Well-planned affordable housing is also a boon for the environment - decreasing the carbon footprint of our workforce and preserving our open space. The county of napa has hired Generation Housing to produce two complementary reports:
1. State of Housing in Napa County Report: This report is a comprehensive report, over 60 pages, covering housing stock and cost, density, land use, homebuilding, population shifts and demographic breakdowns of housing cost burden and overcrowding. The report aims to educate the public, community leaders, and policymakers so that the community can collectively and collaboratively make informed, evidence-based decisions on policy, projects, and funding addressing the existing housing shortage.
2. Napa County Housing Needs and Production Report: This report will provide an independent and objective evaluation of current and projected housing needs aligned to the regional housing inventory. The report will consider how current housing availability is addressed by the 6th Cycle Housing Element sites inventory and will utilize insights into existing transit and job centers, and projected demographic and job sector growth to match future needs to supply. The regional approach to the data and analysis will allow the County, and the individual jurisdictional entities within the County, to understand housing as a coordinated effort across jurisdictions, helping to assign housing typologies to geographical areas best served by those projects in alignment with principles of equity, sustainability, and regional commitments to climate action.
Workplan timeline: November 2023- April 2024