HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/19/2022 Item 7b, Simpson
Delgado, Adriana
From:Tayler Simpson <tayler@abbottreedinc.com>
Sent:Tuesday, July 19, 2022 1:58 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:email City Council
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Dear Council Members,
In case I can’t make it tonight (my wife is in her first trimester and we have an 18 month toddler at home), below is what
I had planned to read for public comment. Good luck and I look forward to collaborating with council and staff in the
future.
Cheers,
Tayler
Madam Mayor and fellow council members,
My name is Tayler Simpson. I write to you today as a SLO resident, a person who works for a housing provider
(Abbott|Reed), and the Vice President of the Home Builders Association.
I’d like to take this opportunity to first and foremost thank Staff as it relates to the inclusionary housing ordinance
efforts before you. This topic has increasingly been at the forefront of all levels of media as cost-of-living soar in our city,
state, and country, but for decades has been a point of conflict for housing providers and municipalities. This topic will
never be easy to negotiate and will be met with controversy for the foreseeable future, but the leadership of staff
should be recognized and encouraged so we can continue to have meaningful policies in place to assist individuals and
families in need.
That said, is solving this challenge as simple as the details of a NEXUS study and boiling everything down to percentages
and a per square foot in-lieu fees? Or is it time our city and council members look at other ways to generate sustainable
revenue sources that will have a long-term impact?
I would strongly encourage that our city and council contemplate the latter and realize this is a community challenge
and we all should participate in and not have it rest on the shoulders of housing providers. Unfair and restrictive IHO’s
will continue to aid in our affordable housing crisis and continue to pass on the subsidy cost to market rate renters and
homebuyers, furthering the already high burden of costly rent and home prices in our city.
By far, the greatest and most consistent vehicle we can put in place is a bond. As a property owner in the city of SLO I
would greatly support a measure where property taxes had an affordable housing community participation fee of $100-
$200 annually. With just over 19,000 households in the city this would generate between $1.9-$3.8 million that could be
leveraged and allocated to affordable housing projects in the city annually. Coupled with fair IHO fees and other in place
revenue sources, this will result in a major shift in affordable housing availability and help sustain financial feasibility of
projects across the income spectrum.
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Other revenue sources to consider would be increases to TOT and allocations from the general fund.
This is 100% a community issue and is 100% a challenge we must solve as a community and not something that should
solved by unit allocation and fees from housing providers. If anyone on this council or community feels different, my fear
would be that our cities goals of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, will be met and matched with exclusivity, benefiting
only those who own property within the city limits.
The most important aspect of affordable housing within our community is not that it’s allocated amongst market rate
housing, but access to our cities services, amenities, and infrastructure.
So, I say, we as community members, need to seriously consider adopting this as a community effort. If we do this, our
city will become that much closer to our goals of being equitable, diverse, inclusive, and even prosperous.
Thank you.
TAYLER SIMPSON, MRED | Business Development and Acquisitions Manager
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