SF Affordable Housing Measure Defeated

"Measure B would have required that 2.5 cents for every $100 of property tax revenue collected in the city go toward affordable housing during the next 15 years. At least half of all new affordable housing units would need to be suited for families - with two bedrooms or more - and 40 percent of new units would have to go to the poorest residents, those making less than 30 percent of the city's median income.

[Mayor Gavin] Newsom has said that the measure would tie up cash that the city needs now more than ever for social services like homeless shelters and public health programs. He has noted repeatedly that the city is facing a possible $250 million deficit in 2009, which makes this a bad time to tie up money for specific projects like affordable housing.

'Prop. B is a real backbreaker. We will have to make massive cuts to social services. That is not a threat, it is an objective truth,' Newsom said. 'As much as we all support affordable housing, where do we find the money in this budget climate?'

The mayor added that the city already has spent more than $200 million on affordable housing in the past several years, and is building more units - some affordable, some not - than anytime in recent history."