San Mateo County will allocate $43.75 Million towards Affordable Housing over the next two years!

For weeks, the Board of Supervisors and county staff have been tinkering with a budget proposal on how to leverage locally-controlled sales tax dollars in support of housing solutions for low-income earners. On Tuesday, the board unanimously approved a blueprint for how it will spend Measure K proceeds. After an initial proposal to commit $15 million annually prompted advocates to contend the housing crisis demands more urgent action. County officials responded by considering cuts to other expenditures and eventually landed on a plan to spend $22.5 million next fiscal year and $21.25 million the following year.

Members of the public spoke in favor of the proposal, noting it could have the added environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by enabling people to avoid long commutes and live closer to where they work. Nearly 60,000 people commute out of or into San Mateo County where the average two-bedroom apartment rents for $3,400 a month and median home prices have jumped to $1.25 million, according to county statistics.

-See more at: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-05-17/county-gives-44m...