Good Policy | Transfer Tax & Social Housing

San Francisco voters approved Prop I in 2020 with 57% of the vote — a transfer tax on luxury real estate sales designed to fund rent relief and affordable housing for all. Four years later, over $400 million has accrued. The City still hasn't spent it as intended.

In Part 2 of our 5-part Good Policy series, we hear from housing advocates Shanti Singh (SF Housing Stability Fund Oversight Board) and Kyle Smeallie (SF Community Land Trust) about the public tools San Francisco already has — and the political will required to use them.

The Mayor's office has announced legislation to repeal the Prop I transfer tax increases and return rates to pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say that at the peak of the affordability crisis — with federal housing funding being slashed and evictions at a decade high — this is exactly the wrong moment to give tax cuts to real estate investors.

San Francisco has the revenue. It has 17,000 approved affordable units waiting to be funded. What it needs is leadership willing to match the mandate voters already gave it.