The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara appreciates the opportunity to respond to Loy Beardsmore’s March 24 commentary, and correct misperceptions and misunderstandings about our agency.
We offer the following clarifications and counterpoints:
Affordable Housing Necessity
The Housing Authority has the specific mission of providing affordable housing. Over the past 50-plus years, the Housing Authority has built and maintained more than 1,400 units of affordable rental housing and in collaboration with private landlords, administers 3,000 Section 8 vouchers or rental assistance.
This is not a detriment but a response to the dire need in Santa Barbara — one of the priciest places to live globally.
Without reviewing the data, the statement that the Housing Authority “… assists more people in Santa Barbara, per capita, than any other city in California …” cannot be verified.
Regardless, the current level of available affordable housing in our community is insufficient.
According to the City of Santa Barbara’s recently approved Housing Element, “… 50% of renter households are cost burdened and 26% of all renters have a severe cost burden. Among lower-income renters, overpayment was estimated to affect 77% of households. This information is especially somber when one considers that the city estimates that 14% of the (rental) housing stock is publicly subsidized.”
These numbers further demonstrate the need for additional affordable housing, regardless of who builds it.
It is also the legal responsibility of all local jurisdictions, including the city and Santa Barbara County, to plan to meet the affordable housing needs of our community.
For the next eight-year Housing Element planning cycle, California’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process determined that the city needs 8,001 units of housing. Sixty-two (62%) or 4,969 of those units need to be affordable at the low- to moderate-income levels, underscoring the urgency for continued and expanded efforts.
Tax Exemption
Housing Authorities in California, including HACSB, are not nonprofit organizations but public bodies exercising public and essential governmental functions. As such, Housing Authority properties are exempt from taxation.
Santa Barbara’s Housing Authority is exempt from property taxes and the Housing Authority also does not receive any revenue from local taxes or fees. Available HACSB resources must be utilized strategically and only on the most feasible projects to ensure effective and responsible use of funds.
Eviction Policies
The statement that the Housing Authority has “… the highest number of evictions …” cannot be verified without reviewing the data to support this statement.
However, we acknowledge that due to the nature of our work, evictions are an unfortunate reality. In 2023, the Housing Authority’s eviction rate was less than 2%.
Our policy is that evictions are a last resort, pursued only after exhausting all other avenues to align residents with their lease agreements, evidencing our commitment to compassionate management.
Renovations and Resident Protection
The statement that the Housing Authority has conducted “renovictions” is false. Our Sycamore Gardens renovation project, completed in 2017, involved temporary relocations with the guarantee of same-rental price returns.
Furthermore, we adhere to the Federal Uniform Relocation Act, ensuring that residents are well-compensated and supported during any necessary relocations.
Waitlist Prioritization and Advocacy
Long waitlists are the result of housing supply not meeting demand.
Historically and currently, available funding sources for affordable housing have been limited to serving veterans, seniors, low-income families or special needs population. Therefore, most of our inventory does currently provide assistance to these households.
However, we have been able to create an inventory of approximately 250 workforce housing units. Our most recent addition being 821 State St., with the creation of 14 workforce housing units in our first mixed-use and adaptive reuse project in Downtown Santa Barbara.
We’re proactive in advocating for more resources and are currently developing moderate- to middle-income workforce units, in partnership with local authorities and institutions, to address the broader spectrum of housing needs.
Incentives for Progress
It’s important to note that many voucher recipients are disabled or elderly households with fixed incomes.
For others, our family self-sufficiency program provides support through education, job training and financial literacy.
Success stories abound, with participants increasing their income and even achieving homeownership.
Voucher Portability
The “portability” feature of our vouchers, albeit complex, remains a valuable option for recipients to seek better employment opportunities or be closer to family.
The “portability” feature is also required as part of the federally regulated Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program.
Market Rents and Housing Authority Rates
The statement that HACSB drives up rental markets is incorrect. Our payment standards are set below actual market rates and aim to reflect a fair balance, assisting voucher holders and participating landlords, while not inflating the rental market.
Workforce Housing
We have several projects in the pipeline to help meet the housing needs of moderate- and middle-income workers, including Jacaranda Court at 400 W. Carrillo Street in collaboration with the City of Santa Barbara and private investors.
We recently completed 14 units of downtown workforce housing at 821 State St., and we are collaborating with the Santa Barbara Unified School District on employee housing on school district property.
Many city workers might be surprised to find they qualify for our programs, given the local income thresholds.
Additionally, our workforce housing units do not currently have a waitlist as all vacancies are advertised locally.
Affordable Housing Costs
The statement that the Housing Authority can build housing more cheaply than the private sector is incorrect.
In fact, affordable housing development is usually more costly due to factors like accessibility and prevailing wage requirements. Private sector developers do not have such requirements.
What we can do, however, is leverage funding and apply for low-income housing tax credits and other public subsidies.
Even with these funding sources, the costs of building are still higher for affordable housing than for the private sector because of the factors noted above.
While we acknowledge that the private sector’s contributions to building above moderate-income housing are essential, the private sector alone has yet to prove it can meet the needs of low- to moderate-income workers and vulnerable households, which is what HACSB does and must continue to do.
While the ideal scenario would be that a free market, for-profit developers and private landlords would naturally provide housing that is priced for workers at all income levels, reality demonstrates the necessity for a public agency, such as the Housing Authority.
Without a significant altruistic investment by the private sector in providing subsidized, permanent affordable housing, agencies such as ours must exist to ensure equal access to housing for our low- and moderate-income workforce, seniors and vulnerable households.
The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara is proud of its nationally recognized reputation, and remains committed to its mission of providing affordable housing for all community members in need.