Wednesday, July 16, 2025

CALIFORNIA: Legislation Would Allow Authorities To Transform Wildfire-Devastated Lots Into Low-Income Housing

 A bill moving through the California Legislature would allow Los Angeles County to use public funds to purchase lots ravaged by wildfires and build low-income housing.

“Senate Bill 549 would allow property taxes to fund what lawmakers are calling ‘Resilient Rebuilding Authorities’ that could buy ruined land and obtain loans to rebuild that will require at least 40% of their funding be earmarked for building multi-unit low-income housing on lots where single family homes once stood in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other devastated areas,” Los Angeles Magazine wrote.

The California Senate has already passed the legislation.

More info from Los Angeles Magazine:

Tomiquia Moss, Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, said those monies will “accelerate household stability, climate, and health outcomes,” in the once vibrant neighborhoods where fire ripped through more than 5,000 homes in the Palisades, roughly 340 along the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, and more than 6,000 homes in Altadena. The state, Moss said, will continue to “galvanize the collective public-private response to the wildfires in Los Angeles County,” by “expediting and expanding opportunities to build affordable housing for low-income residents.”

Separately, Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $101 million to “help rapidly rebuild critically needed, affordable multifamily rental housing in the fire-devastated Los Angeles region.”

“Los Angeles has taken significant steps to rebuild after January’s fires, but the devastation is significant and there remains a long road ahead. Thousands of families – from Pacific Palisades to Altadena to Malibu – are still displaced and we owe it to them to help. The funding we’re announcing today will accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to,” Newsom said.

Read further details at The Center Square:

As a funding mechanism, the bill would allow the RRA for the Los Angeles wildfires to “Issue, receive, and administer funds, including, but not limited to, tax-increment financing, federal loans and grants, state loans and grants, and philanthropic grants, to support recovery.”

The RRA would then be able to use taxpayer funds to oversee most of the construction process, and would be granted the power to “purchase critical construction materials in bulk,” “manage and coordinate rebuilding and related logistics,” “enhance financing options,” and “support the reconstruction workforce by partnering with trades, facilitating training and workforce development, and creating temporary workforce housing.”

The RRA also would “facilitate reconstruction of lost rental housing stock, including by promotion of accessory dwelling units, senior-serving housing, and replacement of affordable housing lost in the fires.”

The bill authorizes an updated funding mechanism called NIFTI-2 that allows municipal bodies to use incremental property tax revenue, that is, property tax revenue above a baseline, to finance transit and low-income housing.

40% of NIFTI-2 funding must be used for housing affordable to households making less than 60% of area median income, with 10% set aside for beautification, “active transportation” projects such as bike lanes, and other non-vehicular connections to transit.

The remaining 50% of NIFTI-2 funding could be used for “multifamily affordable housing projects,” “transit capital projects,” and “transit-oriented development projects.”

https://100percentfedup.com/california-legislation-would-allow-authorities-transform-wildfire-devastated/

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