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In a surprising reversal, Bay Area elected officials removed a property tax initiative from the November ballot last week.
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority voted to remove the measure at the last minute, noting that it faced a legal challenge and polling wasn’t trending in the right direction. Two months ago, the authority members voted unanimously to put the measure on the ballot in the nine Bay Aera counties.
It was designed to build as many as 90,000 affordable housing with a significant increase in the property tax rate. The authority planned to sell bonds of $20 billion that would be paid off by the increased property tax. The total cost was estimated at $50 billion. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass and was polling well short of that.
Taxes would have gone up by $19 per $100,000 in assessed valuation.
The ballot also includes a $10 billion school construction bond and a $10 billion climate change bond plus eight other measures. Given the tiny margin that Gov. Newsom’s mental health bond received in March and the economic challenges, here’s betting that voters will have their hands firmly on their wallets.
Proponents now will turn their attention to Proposition 5 on the November ballot that would lower the threshold from two-thirds to 55%, equivalent to what voters approved for school bonds. If that passes, then they likely will come back with another measure in two years. The Legislature passed authorization for the pilot project with the Bay Area authority in 2019.
State schools chief Tony Thurmond jumped into the housing challenge by pledging to help build 2.3 million units on land already owned by school districts and the state. Pleasanton school officials are planning affordable housing for its employees as part of the plan to redevelop the district office site at Bernal Ave. and First St.
The state law allows schools districts to move ahead without approval of the local jurisdiction so it will be a matter of them finding suitable partners who can obtain the financing. Some Bay Area districts already have built units that are housing employees.
The Legislature is racing to get its work done before the session ends Aug. 31 and various advocates are pushing away. Consider the labor folks, who have pushed for higher minimum wage, turning their attention to the retail clerks. Self checkout has proven popular whether at big box retailers or supermarkets. The retail clerks’ union and a LA-area legislator held a virtual event to push for a bill that would limit retailers ability to install more by requiring “safe staffing” levels.
Looking at existing operations, it’s easy for one clerk to monitor four to six self checkout stations and the demands on them have lessened as consumers have become more familiar with using them. The legislation probably has a reasonable chance of passing given the Democrat-dominated Legislature and the sway unions hold.
Efficiency for the employer to keep costs down doesn’t matter, although watch how many additional kiosk ordering stations you’re going to see at restaurants looking to save money on staff with $20 minimum wage.
The bill’s author is Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas who was the only no vote on the package of bills to toughen laws against retailer theft that the governor signed last week.
