Editor,
In response to Steven Howard’s Jan. 14 letter to the editor, I agree with most of what he wrote — Proposition 13, real estate taxes on private homes have led to a major disparity between what residents who have lived in their home for many years pay versus what new homeowners pay in annual property taxes even though all are paying for and receive the exact same city services.
This discrepancy makes it difficult for current home hunters to afford to buy on the Peninsula by adding to overall housing cost. This is one more reason, in addition to the jobs/housing fit imbalance, why only those with an income in the top 5% can even consider buying a local home today. Lower-income people are totally locked out.
In his letter Mr. Howard specifically called me out in my Jan. 8 op-ed for saying that each city is approving more jobs than housing and expecting the shortfall will be filled by adjacent cities. He stated that a San Carlos city councilmember told him “the surrounding communities can absorb those people,” but I bet if you asked that councilmember today if San Carlos can absorb the housing needs of thousands of new employees areawide, he would not be able to say “yes” with a straight face. The truth is that almost every Peninsula city has fallen short of meeting its state Regional Needs Housing Assessment goals over the past 20 years, thus the housing scarcity we face today.
David Crabbe
San Carlos
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(1) comment
Thanks for your letter, Mr. Crabbe, but it is highly likely that those paying higher property taxes now are going to be just as happy as the folks who are currently paying lower property taxes because of the duration they’ve owned their home. Sure, they may complain now but in a few years, when their property values increase, they’ll thank their lucky stars their property taxes won’t increase considerably. Perhaps that explains why Prop 13 has been attacked over the years yet has not been repealed. The issue of property taxes is one of the few cases where there is true bipartisan support.
In regards to the availability of housing, we need to reduce the costs of developing and building housing. How can builders make the numbers work out when builders must adhere to installing mandatory all electric appliances, mandatory electric chargers for folks who don’t own electric cars, low-water or no-water toilets, etc.? Builders aren’t going to throw in those “features” for free and will pass on the cost to homebuyers. I’d recommend a look at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, UC Berkeley website, where you’ll see a number of research papers. Of note, and written several years ago, are papers on the cost of housing development in seven CA cities and residential impact fees in CA, among many other housing articles. It's safe to assume fees have gone up since then.
Folks can complain about affordable housing until the cows come home (and some have for several years) but government needs to make progress in reducing development costs and reducing or eliminating impact fees. We also need to reduce or eliminate nanny regulations and guidelines. If additional building mandates and fees continue to increase, nothing will change and it’ll only get worse. Keep your letter on hand and submit it for reprint next year, and the next… Rinse and repeat.
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