Special Notice / Hearing: None
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Staff Report Regarding Proposed Article 34 Ballot Measure
RECOMMENDATION:
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Receive a report from County staff about the work and consultation that the Board of Supervisors directed regarding the proposal to place on the ballot at the November 5, 2024 General Presidential Election an Article 34 ballot measure and provide direction regarding any future steps.
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BACKGROUND:
A. Article 34
Article XXXIV, Section 1, of the California Constitution ("Article 34"), adopted by California voters in 1950, imposes a voter approval requirement for certain affordable housing projects, unless an exception applies. Article 34 provides, in pertinent part, that no "low-rent housing project" shall be "developed, constructed, or acquired" by any "state public body" without first putting the project to a vote of the qualified electorate.
As defined in Article 34, a "low-rent housing project" means "any development composed of urban or rural dwellings, apartments or other living accommodations for persons of low income, financed in whole or in part" with public funds. "Persons of low income" means "persons or families who lack the amount of income which is necessary...to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe and sanitary dwellings, without overcrowding." Further, "state public body" means the "State or any city, city and county, county, district, authority, agency, or any other subdivision or public body of this State."
B. Ballot Measures Authorizing Affordable Housing Unit Banks
Since the adoption of Article 34, numerous public agencies have sought and received voter approval authorizing a maximum number of low-income housing units to be developed, acquired, or constructed within their jurisdictions. These elections authorize an Article 34 "bank" of housing units that a state pu...
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