The Oakland City Council on a 7-1 vote enacted a new affordable housing impact fee program with initial rates starting Sept. 1, 2016, that range from $750 per unit to $7,000 per unit, depending on the project location. While BIA|Bay Area and others opposed the fee in its entirety, BIA through its partners at the Jobs Housing Coalition also worked behind the scenes to lessen the impacts given the high likelihood that a fee would be adopted. The most significant mitigation in the program adopted on April 19, 2016, is the city’s agreement to phase in the fees across three years in two of the three fee zones and five years in East Oakland. The fees will increase annually starting July 2017 and ultimately range from $13,000 to $24,000 per unit. Affordable housing advocates had demanded the city adopt an immediate citywide $20,000 per unit fee despite findings from the city’s economic consultants that Oakland’s real estate market could not financially absorb the extra costs.
Click here to read the full Oakland staff report.
Click here to read BIA’s letter to the Oakland City Council.
