What is it?

Prop I would reallocate the City's transfer tax on property sales of $10M or more. The tax rate doesn't change, staying at today's highest-in-the-state 5.5% and 6%. Prop I just changes where the money goes: roughly half would no longer flow into the City's "general fund," where it can be allocated through the normal budgeting process, and would instead be restricted to subsidized housing and homelessness prevention.

It would also prevent the Board of Supervisors from lowering the tax without a vote of the people.

New buildings with 4 or more homes, sold within 5 years of initial construction, are exempt from half of the tax on that first sale. It is a modest tax cut for developers.

How the restricted money would be spent

• At least 60% would go to building new subsidized housing, with half of that reserved for "social housing" projects where residents share in management and, where feasible, ownership through structures like community land trusts and limited-equity co-ops, which cap resale values
• At least 25% would go to preservation, with most of that buying rent-controlled buildings and SROs and the rest rehabilitating existing subsidized housing
• At least 10% would go to eviction legal defense and emergency rental assistance
• Up to 5% can be used for administration, with refunds paid separately and not subject to that cap

Read the full annotated legal text →