Come to tonight’s Berkeley Council meeting on Housing, Tonight Tuesday May 17

Subject: Affordable Housing, May 17 meeting

Email: council@cityofberkeley.info

Dear Mayor Bates and Members of the Berkeley City Council,

     The City of Berkeley is facing a housing affordability crisis. To address this crisis, the City Council must adopt an affordable housing funding plan. An achievable and effective plan could add at least $10 million each year to the Housing Trust Fund. The City should commit to measures that will help fund at least 100 more units of affordable housing every year. In addition to housing impact fees, please support the following measures:

1. A ballot measure to increase the business license tax on landlords with five or more units in Berkeley, with an increase sufficient to generate at least $4 million a year in new revenue for the Housing Trust Fund. Please don’t support watered down alternatives such as what is being proposed by landlord lobbyists.

2.Taxing short-term rentals like AirBnB and making sure the revenue is committed to the Housing Trust Fund

3. Using 25% of any Property Transfer Tax revenues over $10.5 million for affordable housing by placing the money in the Housing Trust Fund.

4. A countywide affordable housing bond on the November 2016 ballot

These measures would begin to produce adequate funding for the housing we need for families, students and working people.  We urge you as our City Council representatives to adopt these measures to both increase the resources in the Housing Trust Fund and to guarantee additional affordable housing in the future.