Rules Committee forwards charter amendment to set baseline affordable housing funds to full Board

The San Francisco Rules Committee on a special meeting day forwarded a charter amendment to the Board of Supervisors that would establish a baseline appropriation and annual set-aside for affordable housing, require the mayor to prepare an affordable housing plan every three years, and urge the redevelopment agency to devote at least 50% of tax-increment funds to low- and moderate-income housing.

Supervisor Chris Daly, sponsor of the measure, described the amendment as a way to create a long-term, steady revenue stream for housing production and preservation. Daly said the city has relied on past general obligation bonds and other one-time measures and framed the charter change as politically viable compared with a new bond measure.

Why it matters: supporters said the proposal would produce predictable local funding for families, seniors and people with disabilities and could be targeted to households at set affordability levels. Deputy City Attorney Anne O'Berry clarified timelines for amendments and placement on the ballot; committee members agreed that any substantive language changes would be refined with city attorneys before the full Board.

Public commenters representing seniors, housing advocates and faith groups urged the Board to move the measure forward. John Malone of Senior Action Network offered a detailed suggested allocation, saying, "20% of this will be going for family housing, at 30% of San Francisco AMI," and outlined additional percentages for seniors, disabled households and homeownership promotion. Multiple speakers highlighted senior homelessness and long waiting lists as reasons for urgent action.

Fiscal context: an office identified as the Controller provided preliminary estimates, saying the proposed set-aside would be roughly $33,000,000 in the first year with a baseline on the order of $66,000,000 in preliminary numbers. Supervisors asked staff to draft clean language that could clarify eligible uses and whether funds could explicitly benefit people living with HIV/AIDS.

Procedure and next steps: the committee voted to forward the item to the full Board for consideration without recommendation. Deputies and sponsoring supervisors said they would work with stakeholders and the city attorney to refine eligibility and earmark language before the Board takes up the measure.

The committee concluded public comment and sent the amendment on to the full Board; no formal vote on the charter text occurred at Rules.