HomeMy WebLinkAboutSB 5 (Beall-McGuire)_20190724_Support
24 July 2019
The Honorable Lorena Gonzalez
Chair, Assembly Committee on Appropriations
1020 N St., Room 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 5 (Beall/McGuire/Portantino) Local-State Sustainable Investment Incentive Program
Notice of SUPPORT (As Amended 6/17/2019)
Dear Assembly Member Gonzalez:
The City of San Luis Obispo supports SB 5 (Beall/McGuire/Portantino), the Local-State Sustainable
Investment Incentive Program. SB 5 gives cities the tools to improve communities while acknowledging
the need for flexible funding to spur housing construction and revitalize communities.
The elimination of redevelopment in 2011 created a huge deficit in community revitalization resources
throughout California, including an annual loss of $1 billion in funding for low- and moderate-income
housing.
SB 5 provides the opportunities for communities to access additional tax increment revenues to fund
affordable housing, infrastructure, and economic development projects that advance state and local
priorities, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding transit-oriented development (TOD),
addressing poverty, and revitalizing neighborhoods.
This renewed state investment would greatly benefit the City of San Luis Obispo, which is repeatedly
named one of the least affordable places to live in California. One of the biggest impediments affordable
housing developers face in our region is the ability to secure necessary financial assistance needed to
cover increasing land and construction costs. SB 5 would put tax revenues back into our community to
help create what we need most – housing that is affordable to the local workforce and lower income
families – while also helping us achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.
The time is right for the state to fill the statewide void left by the elimination of redevelopment and
provide more tools to support local efforts to build more affordable housing, provide essential
infrastructure, and create opportunities in underserved communities.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo supports SB 5 (Beall/McGuire/Portantino).
Sincerely,
Heidi Harmon
Mayor
City of San Luis Obispo
cc:
San Luis Obispo City Council
State Senator Bill Monning, fax (916) 651 – 4917
State Assembly Member Jordan Cunningham, fax (916) 319-2135
Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org
Meg Desmond, League of California Cities, mdesmond@cacities.org