The listening tour will visit five cities – Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco – and allow Treasurer Ma to gather information, collect insights and learn about regional housing issues and challenges.
The public is encouraged to attend and to RSVP at http://bit.ly/TreasurerMaHousingListeningTour.
“This listening tour will be a time for me to hear from people about how well the state treasurer’s office has been providing service in their area and how we can do better going forward towards making affordable housing available,” said Treasurer Ma. “I intend to sit quietly and listen directly to the ideas and feedback from people of each of the communities that we visit. It will not be the time for me to make promises or commit to specific objectives.”
The State Treasurer’s Office has two programs in place that offer assistance to those in need of affordable housing. Both programs promote private investment in affordable rental housing for low-income Californians.
The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee, or CDLAC, manages the state’s tax-exempt bond allocations for affordable housing projects and the Single-Family First-Time Homebuyer Program.
In 2017, CDLAC’s allocation for tax-exempt bonds helped to finance more than 12,000 units of housing, including more than 10,000 affordable units, and assisted over 2,000 new homebuyers.
Another program offered by the state treasurer’s office is the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, or CTCAC, which administers the federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Programs.
In 2017, between CTCAC’s three Federal Credit Awards programs more than 13,000 low-income housing units were financed.
According to Ma, the listening tour will help her understand how best to organize and deploy these and other resources that her office has to offer.
Additionally, it will allow her to assist Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has called for 3.5 million new housing units by 2025, which amounts to 500,000 new homes each year. That’s 6.25 times more than California currently produces – an average of 80,000 homes a year.
Treasurer Fiona Ma’s Affordable Housing Listening Tour calendar follows:
Thursday, Jan. 17
9 a.m.
Los Angeles
Ward Village Senior Apts.
1177 W. Adams Blvd.
3 p.m.
San Diego
San Diego Housing Commission
1122 Broadway
Friday, Jan. 18
10 a.m.
Sacramento
The Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency
801 12th St.
3 p.m.
San Francisco
Recology Golden Gate
900 7th St.
Friday, Jan. 25
9 a.m.
Fresno
Legacy Commons Community Center
2255 S. Plumas St.