By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

September 16, 2014 -- The campaign in favor of two November ballot measures calling for a real estate tax increase to support affordable housing projects in Santa Monica could receive a boost Thursday if the Board of Education accepts the school district staff’s recommendation to endorse the proposal.

A staff report says the issue of affordable housing is connected to children, and therefore the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD).

"Approximately 28 percent of [SMMUSD] students who reside in the city of Santa Monica are eligible for free and reduced-price meals based on annual household income, and could therefore potentially benefit from the production and preservation of affordable housing in the city," the report states.

The report cites a recent John Hopkins University study that determined, among other things, “families that spent most of their money on housing spent less on things like books, computers and educational outings needed for healthy child development.”

Measure H calls for an increase to the tax on real estate transactions of at least $1 million from $3 per $1,000 to $9 per $1,000. Measure HH says the money earned through the tax hike should support Santa Monica’s affordable housing program, although it is only an advisory proposal.

The City Council voted 5-1 (Terry O’Day was not in attendance and Bob Holbrook opposed) in July to place the measures on the ballot as recommended by City staff (“Council Approves Three Housing Measures for November Ballot,” July 11, 2014).

Andy Agle, Santa Monica’s director of housing and economic development, has said the City’s money for affordable housing projects is drying up due to the 2012 dissolution of the redevelopment agency (RDA) (“Santa Monica City Council Begins Tackling Affordable Housing After Loss of Funding,” December 13, 2012) and a new funding source was needed.

He wrote in a June memo to the council that projections show under $1 million will be available per year for affordable housing in Santa Monica going forward (“Residents Could Favor Tax Hike for Affordable Housing,” June 3, 2014). This is compared to an average of $15 million per year during the RDA era.

Opponents of the measures say their approval will lead to massive development in the city.

“At a time when we have successfully unified to stop over-development, the City has resorted to this divisive measure to maintain its rush to greater density and congestion,” wrote opponents in an argument that will appear on the ballot.

The organized opposition includes traditional local tax objectors such as Mathew Millen and Peter Tigler. They have formed a group called No Taxes to Fund Development that has not raised any money and limited its campaign to press releases, including a threat of litigation over a technicality with the ballot measure arguments ("Settlement Reached on Ballot Argument Signature Dispute," August 19, 2014).

Tigler told The Lookout on Monday that "there were a few feelers out there" for possible financial contributions.

The group campaigning in favor of the measure, Committee to Protect Affordable Housing, has raised $9,000 as of Monday, according to documents filed with the City Clerk’s Office. City Councilmember Gleam Davis is the head of the committee and has contributed $1,000 to the campaign.

Other committee contributors are the local law firm Harding Larmore Kutcher & Kozal ($5,000); Sarah Letts, who heads the nonprofit affordable housing developer Community Corp. of Santa Monica ($1,000); former Planning Commissioner and current council candidate Frank Gruber ($1,000) and attorney Michael Soloff.