Gilroy
– Approved by voters in 2002, Proposition 46 has been a boon to
low-income and affordable housing in Santa Clara County.
Gilroy – Approved by voters in 2002, Proposition 46 has been a boon to low-income and affordable housing in Santa Clara County.
Since the $2.1 billion bond measure passed, more than $50 million dollars of state money has been used to build 1,754 housing units here, making the county one of the measure’s biggest beneficiaries. In the Bay Area, only Alameda County, with $80 million, has received more state money and built more houses. More than 33,000 units have been built statewide.
But as successful as the measure has been, it’s about to expire, leaving county housing advocates scrambling to complete projects and land a similar measure on the November 2006 ballot.
“Our biggest concern is that when Prop 46 goes away there needs to be a permanent statewide funding source to keep creating affordable homes for South County families,” said Poncho Guevara, director of communications for South County Housing in Gilroy. “But part of it is demonstrating that we can use these resources effectively and I think we’ve done that.”
Prop 46 money has been used to fund some of South County’s most effective affordable housing projects, including the 100-unit Murphy Ranch in Morgan Hill and the 60-unit Sobrato Transitional Apartments, now under construction on Monterey Road in Gilroy. About $4 million for the $17.4 million project came from Prop 46.
“That sounds like a small amount, but it leverages the rest of the money,” he said. “Without it we wouldn’t be able to reach the level of affordability we need for, not just homeless families, but families of modest means.”
Maury Kendall, spokesman for the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, said Tuesday that Prop 46 has helped attract investors to the housing trust.
“It certainly lends more legitimacy to an already well thought of program that already attracts significant local funding,” Kendall said. “Affordable housing is a crisis that reaches every corner of the state and a statewide response is critical. Prop 46 is a great first step in creating a permanent source of funding.”
Guevara said South County Housing is pushing ahead quickly with its newest project, Royal Court in Morgan Hill, to ensure it qualifies for funding before Prop 46 expires. Plans for that project call for 12 single-family homes and 55 apartments.
Prop 46 funds also have been used to help first-time buyers living in Morgan Station and Viale in Morgan Hill, and La Maestra in Gilroy, and to provide housing for migrant workers in Salinas.
For more information the campaign for a new source of funding, visit www.nonprofithousing.org.
