In preparation for Friday’s Business Meeting, please find the following description of the proposed ABAG Dues Structure and What those Dues fund. Jesse Arreguin
ABAG President and Berkeley Mayor
Proposed ABAG Dues Structure for FY 23-24 Dues and What those Dues Fund
The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) offers member cities, towns and counties access to valuable benefits, including restoration and improvement grants from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership; energy efficiency grants/rebates from BayREN; at least $20,000 per city, town or county for housing element work through the Regional Housing Technical Assistance Program; and much more, for a relatively low membership fee known as ABAG member dues.
ABAG’s annual dues assessment includes automatic increases based on the regional Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and population growth. For several years, this automatic increase has been about 3%. This coming year, however, the automatic COLA based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index is 6.5%. An additional 3.5% has been added to ABAG dues to help defray rising expenses.
For example, next year, ABAG dues for the City of Milpitas will be $21,370, an increase of $1,943 from the previous year ($1,263 from the automatic COLA increase). Milpitas has received $142,718 in grants from the ABAG Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) program in the last three years, including a $75,000 competitive RHTA grant and a $47,718 Regional Housing Needs Allocation-based grant.
Similarly, ABAG dues for the City of San Pablo next year will be $9,394, an increase of $854 from the previous year ($555 from the automatic COLA increase), while RHTA grants for San Pablo have totaled $95,000. Dues for the City of Saratoga next year will be $9,356, an increase of $851 ($553 from the COLA), while the RHTA program has channeled $32,170 in grants to Saratoga.
The proposed dues for each ABAG member jurisdiction, and how they compare to last year’s dues, are in the Budget and Work Program document, along with highlights of many other programs, grants and technical assistance ABAG provides to member jurisdictions.
Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA)
Funded by a $24 million state Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grant from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to assist in updating Housing Elements.
Saved each jurisdiction over $30,000 by providing shared consultant services, tools and resources; directly sub-granting $20,000 to each and providing 14 jurisdictions with another $1 million in competitive grants.
Provides support for elected officials, planning staff and residents for completion and implementation of housing plans with varied technical assistance. This includes: 28 webinars on a variety of housing element compliance topics; working groups on wildfire, missing middle housing, leading with equity, and converting local malls/office parks to housing; 109 local data packets preapproved by HCD; and other specialized tools such as the online Housing Element Site Selection Tool, a mapping resource that examines potential sites for housing inventories, screens sites based on HCD requirements, flags rezoning, and pre-populates HCD’s new annual progress report form.
1st place 2023 Award of Excellence
Planning Agency (public sector)
Interactive Site Selection Tool
Priority Development Areas (PDA) Grant Funding
Planned places near public transit for new homes, jobs and community amenities, located in downtowns, along main streets and around rail stations.
Created and planned by local governments, which nominate eligible areas to ABAG for adoption.
Awarded $45 million by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to 82 projects in 45 jurisdictions, since 2018.
Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN)
Celebrating its 10th Anniversary.
Offers rebates, funding and technical assistance to help residents, property owners, business owners and local governments improve the resource efficiency and carbon footprint of their buildings.
Helped the Bay Area to save 4.6 million MMBtus of energy, avoid 156 million tons of carbon, upgrade 60,695 housing units, create 12,777 new jobs, and provide $85.6 million in lifetime utility bill savings.
San Francisco Estuary Partnership
Established in 1988 by the Federal Clean Water Act.
Restored and protected 68,000 acres of wetlands to date with the goal of 25,000 more.
Passed on $30 million in state and federal funds to local partners for on-the-ground projects in 2023.
Staffs the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, providing $25 million per year for Bay restoration projects via Regional Measure AA, a $12 parcel tax passed in 2016.
Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA)
California’s first regional housing finance authority, seeded with a $20 million state grant to carry out five regional pilot projects. State funding for additional new programs includes:
Priority Sites Pilot $28 million for redevelopment, acquisition and construction funds to transform surplus public land and aging malls and offices.
Housing Preservation Pilot $15 million for capital financing for non-profits and community land trusts to acquire and renovate market-rate rental housing.
Higher Impact Transformative Fund $10 million reflects the Terner Center’s application to create a Bay Area Builders Lab and a revolving loan fund to scale faster, less expensive manufactured housing production.
Doorway Affordable Housing Portal online resource allowing Bay Area residents to apply for affordable housing opportunities throughout the region.
Technical Assistance programs work with jurisdictions to provide research and technical assistance on housing issues with regional implications, such as eviction prevention.
Placing a Regional Housing Measure on November 2024 Ballot is being explored by the Executive Board, BAHFA Board and staff. The measure could raise $10-$20 billion to provide local jurisdictions with subsidies to build affordable housing and prevent homelessness. 80% of funds raised through the measure would return to their county of origin, while the remaining 20% would provide BAHFA with regional funding.
State and Federal Advocacy Efforts Underway
Staff promotes both ABAG’s and MTC’s agendas and sends elected officials to both Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to advocate for issues of regional and local concern.
