SAN MATEO COUNTY — County officials have placed a 20-year extension of an existing sales tax on the November ballot to possibly combat the housing crisis.
Supervisors unanimously voted on July 26 to seek an extension of the half-cent Measure A tax through 2043. It needed a four-fifths majority to be placed on the ballot.
The measure, which took effect in April 2013 and generates about $80 million a year in revenue, is set to sunset in 2023. The extension is being sought to fund “critical local services and infrastructure,” according to a news release.
The measure requires a simple majority — 50 percent plus one — to pass. In 2012, the tax was approved by 65.4 percent of voters, and it has funded a variety of programs, from early childhood education to the Devil’s Slide Trail. In June, supervisors authorized $10 million in Measure A funds to be issued as loans to developers to attract construction of new affordable housing units and protect existing stock.
At the supervisors’ July 12 meeting, community members and housing advocates asked that the tax be extended to address the local housing crisis. The board considered placing a housing bond on the ballot, but a county-commissioned poll showed the measure would likely fail, in part because it would require a two-thirds majority vote.
The board in June authorized the county’s Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Program to oversee affordable housing concerns, as well as explore the idea of rent restrictions to existing affordable properties for a minimum of 30 years.
In March 2015, the board authorized $12 million in Measure A and county Housing Authority funds toward affordable housing, which led to the acquisition of a nine-unit property in Pacifica by MidPen Housing through a $1.42 million loan and the purchase of a 16-unit apartment building in San Mateo by HIP Housing through a $2.5 million loan.
At the same meeting, the board also adopted a resolution from the county’s Closing the Jobs/Housing Gap Task Force, which was also created in March 2015 to address the housing crisis. The task force in January 2017 plans to launch a marketing campaign on affordable housing.
Email Kevin Kelly at kkelly@bayareanewsgroup.com or call him at 650-391-1049.
