Healdsburg City Council considers housing bond for affordable units

After the failed bid to place a countywide affordable housing bond on the November ballot, Healdsburg is preparing to join Santa Rosa in asking voters to consider a measure to spur new workforce housing.

The City Council has made a priority low- and middle-income housing for the north county hamlet of 12,000 residents, where voters approved in 2016 a hotel surcharge to raise about $500,000 a year for affordable housing. Some council members are optimistic voters will now shoulder some of the cost to build housing.

“I think the city has more of a responsibility to the people on the bottom,” Mayor Brigette Mansell said. “My hope is to use this as a vehicle to … really get some money for the people who are holding up the town.”

What a potential bond measure might look like won’t be known until the City Council reconvenes for a 4 p.m. special meeting Monday at City Hall. Council members will hear a report detailing the city’s housing deficiencies and how they could close those gaps with a potential bond.

Specifics to be fleshed out include what each resident would have to pay annually in extra fees per $100,000 of assessed home value, and how the city could spend those funds. How many housing units the money would afford and what range of incomes they’ll be intended for are other critical components in the conversation.

If the council decides to place the measure on the ballot, it would require two-thirds of voters to pass. It’s up to proponents to sell constituents on the merits.

“The more explicit we can be, the better,” Mansell said. “We want to tell voters exactly what they’d pay and what we’re looking at - that’s the key. But we need to go now, bite it and get going. We need to get the money and do something good with it.”

In June, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors scrapped plans for putting on the November ballot a $300 million countywide bond measure that mirrored voter-?approved housing measures in San Francisco, Santa Clara and Alameda counties in 2016.

The Sonoma County Farm Bureau and Sonoma County Alliance - the county’s largest business group - opposed the measure, concerning supervisors there would not be a voter appetite for higher taxes.

In the absence of a countywide measure, the Santa Rosa City Council unanimously decided two weeks later to pursue its own housing bond, between $80 million and $180 million. The council expects to decide ?Tuesday on the size of the bond - and it’s associated cost for residents. But it’s likely a homeowner would have to pay $100 to $200 more a year for a property valued at $500,000.

Healdsburg may target a bond of between ?$10 million and $50 million. A homeowner would pay between $130 and $650 annually on a $500,000 property, depending on the size of the bond.

For both Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, the belief is any local money for affordable housing can be leveraged for three times the amount in state and federal tax credits. Some of those dollars could come from a $4 billion statewide housing bond that voters will see on their ballots this November.

Healdsburg City ?Council could delay the funding question until a special election next spring or summer, but there’s an urgency to hit the early August deadline to make the November ballot.

Currently, two projects that will add 62 new workforce housing units at assorted income levels are under construction on Grove Street.

One project is being built on city-owned property, and both are expected to wrap up in the coming months.

The city hopes to move quickly to develop more affordable housing.

“Across the board, we’re motivated to do what we can,” Vice Mayor David Hagele said. “We want to strengthen the community with housing for police, firefighters, teachers, hotel workers, all up and down the scale, so they can live in town and be part of the community. That’s the community everybody wants.”

The Sonoma County Farmers Bureau and Sonoma County Alliance haven’t taken a position on the smaller, city-focused housing bonds. They plan to watch what comes out of the two city council meetings before considering a stance.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336.