Proposition 3 will provide continued funding for affordable housing and housing services for people with low and very low incomes in Vancouver
VANCOUVER – Preliminary results show that Vancouver voters approved Proposition 3, the Affordable Housing Levy during yesterday’s Feb. 14 special election.
“The need for affordable housing continues to grow in our community. By approving this levy, voters have said they want us to continue our work to address affordable housing and homelessness in Vancouver,” said Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle. “I want to express my appreciation to Vancouver voters. Thank you for supporting this critical work.”
Proposition 3 will provide continued funding for affordable housing and housing services for people with low and very low incomes in Vancouver. The levy replacement will raise $10 million annually, totaling $100 million over a period of 10 years starting in 2024.
“By funding this levy, we recognize the expectation taxpayers have for the City to efficiently use and leverage their valuable investment,”said City Manager Eric Holmes. “We are committed to continuing our transparent stewardship to assist our most vulnerable residents and reporting the return on investment to taxpayers.”
The funding will be used to help prevent homelessness and create housing for those earning 50 percent or less of the Area Median Income. The replacement levy is projected to assist 2,500 households with rent assistance and housing services, help 150 households with home ownership, preserve or construct 2,400 affordable units, and support 550 shelter beds over the life of the levy.
Proposition 3 replaces the city’s current affordable housing tax levy that will expire at the end of 2023.
The election results will be certified on Feb. 24.
Information provided by city of Vancouver.
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In the Columbian, on 2/15, it stated that 32% of registered voters submitted ballots and, of those, 54% voted for the levy.
This means that only 17% of registered voters just decided to increase all homeowners’ property taxes for the next ten years.
Don’t know about the rest of you but, for me, there’s something wrong with this.
This is why Vancouver City wanted the levy on this off-year, off-cycle election. Should this have been on a ballot full of federal or state election items, it likely would not have passed and the City knows it.
You will never, ever, be able to spend your way out of homelessness
“If you build it, they will come” is being proven again and again. The more services the City provides, the more there are that need those services.
The City has turned homelessness into a self-sustaining industry. Jamie Spinelli, the City’s housing czar, and her minions now all have nice paychecks and benefits – all courtesy of city taxpayers. They don’t want the problem to go away; their livelihood depends on homelessness.
Registered voters are the “they” that government officials often refer to when those officials say “they tell us what to do.” Then this means that only 17% of “they” have dictated to the remaining 83% how much money homeowners will have to cough up for the next 10 years.
Vancouver homeowners have just been “taken to the cleaners.”