Voters to decide on affordable housing bond measure

With the November midterm election coming up, California voters will have several propositions to consider in addition to candidates.

Fourteen new propositions, ranging from the environment to taxes, will be on the ballot. Proposition 1 attempts to address affordable housing.

Housing Trust Silicon Valley said half of renters are spending more than 30% of their income on rent.

“It’s a huge crisis, and statewide as well," Housing Trust Silicon Valley CFO Julie Mahowald said. "There are over a million households, people struggling to find affordable housing in the state.”

Bipartisan state lawmakers put Prop 1 on the ballot to address the issue.

“Prop 1 is an affordable housing bond, $11 billion affordable housing bond," NBC Bay Area political contributor Guy Marzorati said. "The state would issue these bonds and then make it easier basically to finance construction. The idea here is there’s not enough affordable housing in the state, there's not enough supply. This would help with that.”

Marzaroti said Prop 1 is a bond measure, not a direct tax on individuals.

"Really what it means is that the state will have to repay those bonds over the years from the state general fund," he said. "That's a little bit different from how veteran bonds are treated in here in Proposition 1. Those would be repaid by the actual homeowner."

If passed, the state would issue grants and low interest loans to local jurisdictions and private developers.

Housing Trust Silicon Valley said Prop 1 would be a huge shot in the arm for working families, with thousands of affordable housing units ready to go up as soon as the measure passes.

"They’re ready to put shovels in the ground, but we need this money," Mahowald said. "To have 40,000 ready now means that when these funds are approved, there'll be housing available to our neighbors more quickly."

Others such as the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association question the financial element of the proposition.

“If this is important, why isn’t it in the state budget?" Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association President Mark Hinkle said. "You have to think about it. The state legislators put this on the ballot. Why didn’t they put it in the budget? Clearly it’s not important to them."

The association said a time of state budget deficits is not a time to get into more debt.

"Bonds are the equivalent to a mortgage," Hinkle said. "What do we know about mortgages? By the time you actually pay it off, it's double the cost."

Prop 1 includes $1 billion for veterans' housing assistance.

Voters will decide on the measure on Nov. 3.