State's Prop. 63 Allocated
for Supportive Housing
Last week the Department of Mental Health and the
California Housing Finance Agency announced their plan to spend up to
$75 million a year in Proposition 63 funding
on the brick-and-mortar stage of establishing permanent, supportive housing
for the mentally ill.
An additional $40 million will be used to
subsidize rental units, bringing the investment to $115 million a year for
addressing one of the state's ongoing social
challenges. The $115 million will be available every year for the next 20
years due to higher-than-expected revenue
projections from Proposition 63. Combined with new housing bond money passed
under Proposition 1C and existing federal
funding, Steinberg said the state could generate up to $6 billion in the fight
against homelessness.
While mental health advocates hailed the housing
initiative as a critical element for helping people get off the streets,
it comes at the same time that Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is proposing to cut the precursor program to Proposition 63,
also written by Steinberg under Assembly Bill
2034. Mental health advocates say AB 2034 has
helped an estimated 4,500 people transition off the streets into
permanent housing where they can
regularly receive medical and psychiatric treatment, and even start
working.
San Diego's Mental Health
Board Rejects Adding More $ For Supportive Housing
The San Diego County Mental Health Board adopted
a staff recommendation yesterday to spend $1 million of the $4.3 million
in unspent funds from the last two years on
housing for the seriously mentally ill. The funds will be used to
provide permanent supportive housing for
transition aged youth, adults and older adults. The Board also
preliminarily agreed to spend another $2
million for supportive housing as part of $7.8 million in additional one-time
state funds. A 30-day public comment
period must be allowed before final approval. The Board also delayed
final action for 30 days on $2.1 million more
in housing funds for "vouchers, rental subsidies, and rent deposit assistance"
from the additional $9 million that is
available from the "millionaire's tax." Advocates had testified of the
need to allocate $18 million of the funds for supportive housing.
New Fish & Game
Fees
The January 31, 2007 Law
Alert from Goldfarb & Lipman reports that Senate Bill 1535, effective January 1, 2007, has substantially increased fees imposed by the
California Department of Fish and Game when Notices of Determination are
filed. Agencies can no longer remove the fee by finding a "de minimis" impact
on wildlife.
Effective January 1, 2007, Fish & Game fees
have increased to $1,800 for Negative Declarations, $2,500 for EIRs, and $850
for projects approved pursuant to a certified
regulatory program. The County filing fee has increased from $25 to $50.
The fee may be waived only for projects with "no
impact" on wildlife. In a letter sent to County Clerks and local and
state agencies on December 28, 2006, the
Department of Fish and Game asserts that it has the sole authority to issue a
"no impact" finding, and that County Clerks
should not accept Notices of Determination unless they are accompanied by
either the fee; a receipt showing that the
fee was already paid for the project; or a "no impact" finding issued by Fish
and Game.
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Council Postpones Density
Bonus Adoption &
Approves Public Housing Restructure
Effort
At the request of Council member Donna Frye, the
San Diego City Council continued the consideration of the revised Density Bonus ordinance until February 27th. Ms. Frye had
additional questions for the staff that required the continuation.
At the same meeting this week, the the Council
did approve the Housing Commission's plan to request that HUD allow SDHC
to remove the 1,363 public housing units from
the public housing program and convert them to units that rent at the 50%
to 80% AMI level. The plan is
contingent on HUD providing one additional Housing Choice Voucher for each
unit converted.
The additional rental income would be used to
provide permanent affordability to the units and to leverage the equity in
the units to create new units. SDHC expects HUD to take at least a year to review the
proposal.
Affordable Housing
Roundtable
"Ensuring Compliance
with New BOE Rules for Property Tax Exemption"
Thursday, February 8,
2007
NTC Command Center, Meeting Room 1
2640 Historic Decatur
Blvd
San Diego, CA 92106
7:30 am
Registration/Breakfast
8:00 am - 9:30 am
Seminar
Cost: SDHF Members
$15
Non-Members $20
Register by February 5, 2007
Click
Here for Registration Form
CAL-ALHFA Legislative Conference and Training
Seminar
Legislative
Conference
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
and
Managing
Affordable Housing for the Long Term
Thursday, February 15,
2007
Click
Here for Details
Save The
Date
SDHF Member
Mixer
Thursday, March 15, 2007
5:30 to 7:30 PM
Luna
Lounge
7th and K Downtown
The Board of Directors is hosting a
Member and Potential New Member Mixer on Thursday, March 15. The event will
give members a chance to network with each other and at the same time invite
potential new members to come learn how the work of the Federation benefits
them. Members are asked to invite their primary business partners to
come to the event. We will also be inviting elected officials to attend
as well.
Click
Here for Invitation
© 2007 San Diego Housing Federation, 110 W C Street,
Suite 1013, San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 239-6693
Website: http://www.housingsandiego.org
Email: sdhfstaf@housingsandiego.org
