We’ve rounded up our election coverage of the measures on the ballot, plus several key local races, here. This is also the first election in which both city of San Diego and San Diego County candidates cannot win outright in the primary, due to recent ballot measures pushed by local Democrats. The good news is that there are far fewer ballot measures and propositions to study than in some of the most recent elections. Though it’s only late February, California’s primary is suddenly upon us – it’s the first primary to take place since the state moved up the election so voters in the nation’s most populous state can play a bigger role in determining presidential nominees. Measure A is opposed by the San Diego County Republican Party, the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board, three San Diego City Councilmembers and conservative radio host Carl DeMaio.Residents in southeastern San Diego prepare to cast their votes in 2018. It also won support from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, the San Diego chapter of the Associated General Contractors and the Building Industry Association of San Diego County. Measure A has been endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party, Habitat for Humanity and other affordable housing builders and organizations that serve the homeless. "You keep giving the bureaucracy more money to spend, they're never going to have any incentive to implement those reforms and regulations." "I’d much rather get that done without prevailing wage, save that 20% and build more units with that money," Sherman said. In particular he took aim at the state requirement that all housing built with taxpayer dollars pay construction workers higher wages, called "prevailing wage," which he said adds 20-25% to the cost of construction. Sherman said rather than raising taxes to fund more affordable housing, the government should focus on lowering the cost of building it. RELATED: San Diego Again Loses Out In State Affordable Housing Grant Program Sherman was referring to a study released by Point Loma Nazarene University in 2015 that found roughly 47% of the cost of housing in San Diego can be attributed to regulations. "Well, if you keep doing that time and time again, it finally adds up to where now it's almost half the cost of building housing in this city." "Politicians told you, 'Oh, it's just a small little bit of tax, it won't amount to much, it's not that much out of your budget,'" he said. He said the measure's total costs, including interest, would total $2.1 billion over 46 years - and that while the monthly cost to property owners may seem small, it's on top of other taxes, fees and regulations that already go into the cost of housing. San Diego City Councilmember Scott Sherman is among Measure A's opponents. They also took into account that the local tax dollars could be matched three to four times over with state and federal dollars - which Russell said could serve as a stimulus program to help San Diego emerge from the recession caused by the pandemic. The authors of the measure settled on the $900 million figure after calculating that San Diego needs an estimated 2,800 homes for chronically homeless people and 4,800 homes for those at risk of homelessness. RELATED: Historic Designation Scuttles Plan For Affordable Housing At Mission Hills Library Site "We believe that as property tax that's spread so thin over so many people, that it's relatively modest, and that it really provides an opportunity for us to create a safety net that is so clearly lacking, as we saw during this pandemic," Russell said. Some of those costs could also be passed on to renters through rent increases.
Property owners with higher tax assessments would pay more, and those with lower tax assessments would pay less. By 2028, or possibly later, the same homeowner could expect to pay an additional $10.43 in taxes per month. For a home assessed at $600,000, that would total an additional $1.57 in property taxes per month.Īs time goes on and more bonds are issued, the additional property tax would increase. How much each homeowner would pay in additional property taxes depends on the assessed value of their home and other factors including interest rates at the time the bonds are issued.Īccording to the measure's fiscal impact analysis, property owners could expect to pay roughly $3 for each $100,000 of the property's assessed value, starting next year. Measure A: Should San Diego Raise Taxes To Fund Affordable Housing?