City Council Wants Residents OK $650 Million in New Spending

Mortgage Holders Will Be Asked to Foot the Bill

Berkeley City Council wants residents to authorize at least $650 million in new spending. $300 million would be used for affordable housing and other, yet to be identified, infrastructure. Up to $500 million could be raised by a parcel tax. This new $300 million bond comes on the heels of the $135 million Bond Measure O in 2018 that added $270 million in debt. Property tax rates have increased by approximately 20% since 2016 and debt payments for Measure O have not yet started to kick in. 

Mortgage holders are already challenged by the increasingly high cost living and would face continuous increase in property taxes to finance the city's new spending. In the case of subsidized housing, City Council is asking for hundreds of millions more despite existing programs that guarantee tens of million each year. WOMBerkeley believes this is a “bond too far” because it stretches our finances for projects that already have funding.

City Council has not specified what the infrastructure programs would be but discussions have ranged from renovating city buildings in the downtown to building a recreational pier in the marina.

 A1,480 feet long and 22 foot wide recreational pier is among the projects championed by city council. Initial cost estimate $122 million.