Proposition C

Contributions to the Housing Fund

Proposition C would amend the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco to increase the amount of funding the City must appropriate to the Housing Trust Fund each fiscal year that is used for the creation, acquisition, and rehabilitation of affordable rental and ownership housing, for downpayment loans and housing stabilization for certain households, and for housing-related infrastructure. It would provide a temporary freeze and temporary reduction in the annual appropriation to the Housing Trust Fund under certain circumstances and extend the sunset date of the Housing Trust Fund from July 1, 2043 to July 1, 2058 while deleting obsolete provisions.

This measure requires approval by a majority of voters voting on the measure to pass.

Fiscal Impact: Proposition C will have a significant impact on the cost of government of approximately $6 million in additional General Fund costs starting in Fiscal Year 2028-29, growing over time to approximately $60 million annually by Fiscal Year 2034-35.

See Endorsements for Proposition C

Pro:

Supporters argue that San Francisco's housing crisis is simple: rents and home prices have climbed faster than paychecks, and teachers, nurses, and multigenerational families are being priced out of the neighborhoods they grew up in or serve. Proposition C won't solve that alone, but it renews San Francisco's most significant source of funding for affordable housing.

They say that Prop C renews the Housing Trust Fund through 2058 and increases its annual funding to $125 million. Every year we wait, the fund stays capped while rents keep climbing. Prop C does not raise anyone's taxes. It reallocates money the City already collects, and it is fiscally responsible by design. Funding only grows when the City's own property tax or general fund revenue grows.

A YES vote on this measure means: you support amending the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco to increase the amount of funding the City must appropriate to the Housing Trust Fund each fiscal year.

Con:

Opponents argue that San Francisco's Housing Trust Fund was established in 2012 to help working families afford housing. It has failed. Local reporting calls the fund "a letdown." and "an existing program that has yielded little." Since the fund's creation, the cost to build a single affordable unit in San Francisco has roughly doubled, running close to $1 million per unit today. They argue that instead of a fix, this measure doubles the fund's size, locks it in for 30 more years, and stretches it thinner.

A NO vote on this measure means: you are against amending the Chart to increase the amount of funding allocated to the Housing Trust Fund. You want the amount to stay the same.

Background

Charter Section 16.110 established the Housing Trust Fund to support creating, acquiring and rehabilitating affordable housing and promoting affordable home ownership programs in the City. It requires that the City appropriate $20 million to the Housing Trust Fund in Fiscal Year 2013-2014 with an additional $2.8 million per year until the annual appropriation reaches $50.8 million in the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget. From Fiscal Year 2025-2026 through Fiscal Year 2042-43, the City must appropriate an amount equal to the prior year's appropriation, adjusted by the percentage increase or decrease in General Fund Discretionary Revenues. It also allows the City to reduce its annual contribution for a given fiscal year by an amount equal to or less than 56.7% of the annual debt service required to service any SB2113 Affordable Housing Bonds issued after January 1, 2013.

Proposal

The proposed measure would amend Section 16.110 to require that, beginning in Fiscal Year 2028-2029, until the total annual appropriation reaches or exceeds $125 million, the City shall appropriate the greater of the following:

An amount equal to the prior year's appropriation, plus an amount equal to 20% of the City's share of the 1% ad valorem tax revenue resulting from the year-over-year increase, if any, in the Net Total Basis of Levy, as published in the Controller's Certificate of Assessed Valuation between the preceding two fiscal years.
An amount equal to the prior year's appropriation, adjusted by the percentage increase, if any, in General Fund Discretionary Revenues budgeted for the year compared to the prior year's original budgeted amount of General Fund Discretionary Revenues.

The measure would also require that after the total annual appropriation reaches or exceeds $125 million, the City shall appropriate an amount equal to the prior year's appropriation, adjusted by the percentage increase, if any, up to 3%, in General Fund Discretionary Revenues.

The measure would also provide for a discretionary temporary freeze or reduction due to a budget deficit triggering the ability to withdraw from the City Rainy Day Reserve.

The measure would also clarify that the Housing Trust Fund can be used for the creation, acquisition, and rehabilitation of Limited Equity Housing Cooperatives and Social Housing Developments, as well as other types of rental and ownership housing. It will also modify the use of the Housing Trust Fund for downpayment loan assistance, changing the maximum Area Median Income (AMI) limit from 120% to 200% for households generally and eliminate the Complete Neighborhoods Infrastructure Grant Program and instead authorize the use of the Housing Trust Fund to generally fund housing-related infrastructure required to support the development and ongoing use of residential development.

Source: Proposition C: Legislative Digest

City and County of San Francisco Office of Elections

Pro:

Con:

Background

Proposal

2026 Propositions

2026 Local Ballot Measures

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