Santa Cruz Sentinel: Signature-gathering campaign launches for Santa Cruz workforce housing initiative

Executive Director of Housing Santa Cruz County Elaine Johnson got the crowd pumped up about the new affordable housing measure called the Workforce Housing Solutions Act. (Aric Sleeper – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

SANTA CRUZ — A group of about 30 community members and officials gathered in the paseo of the Cedar Street Apartments in downtown Santa Cruz Thursday afternoon to launch the signature-gathering campaign for the Workforce Housing Solutions Act, a new ballot measure intended to collect funds for affordable housing projects in the city.

The potential ballot measure is the result of about two years of effort by a coalition of community members and organizations that began with a series of community meetings facilitated by the city.

“What you’re going to hear about today is: How did this all come together,” said Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley. “We had some community meetings at the front end, hosted by the city. That was designed to get folks together and get them thinking about this, and then hand it off to our good friends at Housing Santa Cruz County. They conducted meeting after meeting, public meetings and conversations with various elements of the community.”

Housing Santa Cruz County Executive Director Elaine Johnson leads the campaign for the potential ballot initiative. If the backers can gather 3,620 signatures by May 17, it will qualify for the city of Santa Cruz’s November 2025 election and would require a simple majority vote to pass into law.

“When I woke up this morning I was thinking about the process that led us here today — two years,” said Johnson. “It was two years of engagement with the community and city staff.”

Johnson thanked the many community members who had a hand in the measure and worked to get the gathering excited about affordable housing.

“It’s going to take all of us to get over this finish line,” said Johnson. “And I can tell you, I feel it already that this is going to be a success.”

The Workforce Housing Solutions Act has two components. If the initiative makes it on the November ballot and is approved by voters, it would enact an annual parcel tax of $96 per parcel in the city of Santa Cruz. According to the text of the measure, “Exemptions would be available to qualifying low-income households, low-income senior households, affordable housing projects, schools, religious institutions and other entities that are otherwise exempt from property taxes.”

The initiative also includes a real property transfer tax for homes sold at the price of $1.8 million or more. The tax increases incrementally from 0.5% to 2%, dependent on the home’s sale price and caps at $200,000. The act would include parcel tax exemptions for seniors and low-income homeowners, and real estate transfer tax exemptions for families transferring ownership of property within immediate family.

The potential initiative is estimated to raise $5 million each year for the city’s affordable housing trust fund and would sunset in 20 years. About two-thirds of the $5 million would be collected from the real estate transfer component of the measure, and one-third from the parcel tax.

About 90% of the total revenue raised would be used to bolster affordable housing projects and programs, and 10% of the funds would be used to prevent evictions and address homelessness. A maximum of 3% would be used for “community oversight, accountability and administrative expenses in implementing the measure.”

The signature-gathering launch event featured a panel of the measure’s supporters including Marv Christie, owner of Anderson Christie Real Estate in Downtown Santa Cruz.

“The community-led process developing this initiative was invaluable, allowing input from many voices that are impacted,” said Christie. “We all know that money alone will not solve the problems but we also know that solving a problem of this magnitude requires major investment. This is a community problem that needs a community level of support and asking property owners to share in that seems like a reasonable request.”

For information, visit workforcehousingnow.net.