This special edition of the Housing Department's newsletter updates our colleagues on the potential impact of the Governor's budget proposal on the City of San José's Housing Department.

As many of you may have read, the budget released yesterday by Governor Brown contains a drastic proposal that would eliminate the more than 400 redevelopment agencies operating across the State. We are still analyzing the impact of this proposal.  However, it is clear that it would eliminate the 20% Low and Moderate Income Housing Funds that the Housing Department relies upon for the majority of its program and administrative costs.  These cuts, if approved by the Legislature, would result in significant reductions in programs and services for lower income San Jose residents. 

The Department is awaiting more detail on this proposal, which is expected shortly.  Additionally, efforts are underway to inform and educate public policy makers about the consequences of such a proposal and about the positive benefits that affordable housing programs have on communities.  While we are planning for the potential for cuts, we are at the same time hopeful that the final budget will not be as harmful to our efforts as we initially thought.