By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

November 20, 2014 -- For the third consecutive year, the City did not pay for any affordable housing, despite having the authority to finance more than 1,000 affordable apartment units in Santa Monica. 

Andy Agle, Santa Monica’s director of housing and economic development, blames the situation on a lack of money due to the dissolution of the City’s redevelopment agency.

Agle made this statement in an annual Proposition I report (covering the 2013-14 fiscal year) released this week. Proposition I, approved by voters in 1998, gives the City the authority to fund a certain amount of affordable housing projects, determined by a formula.

For many years, the City funded affordable housing projects mostly with redevelopment agency money, including nearly 900 units since the 2001-02 fiscal year, according to Agle’s report. 

This practice came to a halt in 2012 when the State government’s dissolution of redevelopment agencies throughout California went into effect.

“Continued utilization of the voter-approved authority to increase affordable housing using City financial subsidies will be difficult without new, dedicated revenue sources,” Agle wrote.

An attempt to bring money to the City’s affordable housing program was made this election season with Proposition H, which would have increased the real estate tax for transactions above $1 million. But the measure lost in a landslide.

It is not certain where future funding could come from. For now, the City depends on affordable housing projects being produced through developers who deed restrict certain units as part of development agreements. But officials say this is not enough to meet demand.

Although the City is not paying for new affordable housing projects, there are some under construction that are already funded.

Agle wrote that 170 units “are currently in various stages of development.” This includes 105 units at the Mountain View Mobile Home Park, 34 units at 520 Colorado Avenue, 17 units at 1616 Ocean Avenue, nine units at 1342 Berkeley Street and five units at 2018 19th Street.

Also, 265 City-funded units were completed during the 2013-14 fiscal year. This includes 44 units at 2401 Virginia Avenue, 160 units at 1725 Ocean Avenue, 12 units at 2309-15 Oak Street and 49 units at multiple addresses.   

A certain amount of affordable housing must be produced in Santa Monica every year because on Measure R, which was approved by voters in 1990. 

Among the requirements are that at least 30 percent of multi-family housing created on and annual basis be affordable for "moderate-income" residents. Santa Monica continues to meet this threshold, but it could be difficult to do this in the future, Agle wrote in a report released in July.

“With the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency in February 2012, and the subsequent loss of funding for the Housing Trust Fund, staff anticipates significantly fewer affordable apartments being built in the future,” Agle wrote.