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Los Banos council adopts 2024 housing-element annual progress report
Summary
After a public hearing, the City Council approved its 2024 Annual Progress Report on the General Plan housing element and will submit the report to state agencies to remain eligible for state housing grants.
The Los Banos City Council on March 19 approved a resolution adopting the city’s 2024 Annual Progress Report on the General Plan housing element and directed staff to file the report with state agencies.
Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Souza Elms told the council that state law requires jurisdictions to prepare and submit an annual progress report on housing by April 1 and to report on the status of the housing element, progress meeting the city’s regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) and actions taken to implement housing programs. Souza Elms said the city is in a “limbo period” between the fifth and sixth housing-element cycles and is participating in a multi‑jurisdictional housing element with the other Merced County jurisdictions. She said the draft sixth‑cycle element is in its second review with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
The report shows 143 units certified for occupancy in 2024 and a 172‑unit rollover from the previous planning period, giving Los Banos a total of 315 units counted toward the RHNA so far. Souza Elms explained that for RHNA credit the state counts certificates of occupancy, not building permits issued, and that the city’s tables—submitted in protected Excel worksheets to the state—break down units by income category and housing type.
At the public hearing one resident asked how lower‑cost townhouses or condos would be counted and where they fit in income categories; Souza Elms replied that medium‑density townhouses often qualify at the moderate income level but can qualify as lower income if deed‑restricted or if units accept vouchers, and she noted the state requires a minimum density (about 20 units per acre) for certain low‑income designations.
Souza Elms and council members also stressed the funding connection: failing to file acceptable housing‑element progress reports can jeopardize eligibility for state grants. Souza Elms said the city’s compliance is important to preserve access to programs including the Encampment Resolution Fund.
The council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution No. 6904, the 2024 Annual Progress Report on the Housing Element, and staff will submit the report to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and HCD.
