San Francisco Bay area: housing development: financing.

Existing law provides for the establishment of various special districts that may support and finance housing development, including affordable housing special beneficiary districts that are authorized to promote affordable housing development with certain property tax revenues that a city or county would otherwise be entitled to receive. This bill, the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Housing Finance Act, would establish the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (hereafter the authority) and would state that the authority's purpose is to raise, administer, and allocate funding for affordable housing in the San Francisco Bay area, as defined, and provide technical assistance at a regional level for tenant protection, affordable housing preservation, and new affordable housing production. The bill would provide that the governing board of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission serve as the governing board of the authority. The bill would require the authority board to provide for regular audits of the authority, including an independent financial and performance audit for bonds secured by ad valorem property taxes, and financial reports, as provided. The bill would include findings that the changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities within the San Francisco Bay area, including charter cities. The bill would authorize the authority to, among other things, raise and allocate new revenue, incur and issue bonds and other indebtedness, and allocate funds to the various cities, counties, and other public agencies and affordable housing projects within its jurisdiction to finance affordable housing development projects, preserve and enhance existing affordable housing, and fund tenant protection programs, as specified, in accordance with applicable constitutional requirements. In this regard, the bill would authorize the entity to impose various special taxes, including a parcel tax, and certain business taxes, within its jurisdiction and to issue general obligation bonds secured by the levy of ad valorem property taxes, in accordance with applicable constitutional requirements, and revenue bonds payable from the revenues of the authority, other than revenues generated from ad valorem property taxes. The bill would also authorize the executive board of the Association of Bay Area Governments to impose a commercial linkage fee, as defined, in an amount not to exceed the equivalent of $10, and require a city or county in the San Francisco Bay area that has jurisdiction over the approval of a commercial development project, as defined, to collect that fee as a condition of that approval and remit the amount of fee to the authority, as provided. The bill would require the authority to ratify the commercial linkage fee adopted by the executive board of the Association of Bay Area Governments. The bill would require that revenue generated by the authority pursuant to these provisions be used for specified housing purposes and require the authority to distribute those funds in accordance with specified requirements, including the adoption of a regional expenditure plan. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Francisco Bay area. By adding to the duties of local officials with respect to (1) providing staff for the authority and (2) elections procedures for revenue measures on behalf of the authority, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.