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Thanks to all of you for joining SHA to tell the Board of Supervisors that Sacramento County supports a strong Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.

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An Open Letter to the Sacramento County

Board of Supervisors

No Backroom Deals to Undermine Affordable Housing!

Sacramento County has the best affordable housing ordinance in the United States, thanks to the previous members of the Board of Supervisors who unanimously approved it in 2005. It requires that 15% of all new houses and apartments be affordable to low, very low and extremely low income people. It’s the first mixed income housing law anywhere in the country to offer specific help to the poorest of the poor; 3% of the housing is reserved for extremely low income households, including parents working at low-paying jobs, frail senior citizens living on Social Security, people with severe disabilities. 

In just its first two years, the law has been extremely effective:

• 4,006 affordable homes and apartments are planned


• More than $75 million in fees to help pay for affordable housing will be raised


• 125 acres of land for affordable housing will be donated

 We strenuously object to any back room deals affecting the ordinance! We object to your one-sided negotiations with the Building Industry Association. We oppose any changes to the ordinance without a full, public multi-step process like the lengthy process that created this ordinance.  The process must include low income individuals, non-profit organizations, affordable housing developers and advocates, community based organizations and associations, the faith community and others serving low income families and individuals.

 We don’t want any more back room deals. We agree with the Sacramento Bee editorial of May 29^th: “The county is privately negotiating with the builders and leaving affordable housing advocates in the dark. This ordinance is the product of a very long and very public process. … Let's have an open process that debates the issue in public. Stop using a flimsy lawsuit as an excuse …There is no evident reason for the county to settle a case it is so clearly winning. If a shift in the political makeup of the board is the force behind the drive to revisit this ordinance, supervisors should do so within the regular deliberative process, one that is very public and very inclusive.”

Organizational Supporters

Individuals