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Ask your Legislators to Repeal
Section 58 in AB 130
We need your help to protect our ability to build new housing in California that people can afford.
The State Legislature adopted Assembly Bill 130 to advance important reforms aimed at increasing the supply of housing, but a little-understood provision (Section 58) authorizes local governments to impose a new Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fee on new housing units.
These new fees operate like taxes on new housing and will increase the cost of the vast majority of new homes and apartments built in California.
· While described as voluntary, AB 130 ultimately gives local governments and regional lead agencies sole discretion to impose VMT housing fees without any cap.
· One study conducted on VMT housing mitigation programs funded by Caltrans found in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area that subsidizing affordable housing with VMT mitigation fees could cost $16,200 per unit annually for 20 years, or $324,000 per unit, with $2.42 billion in total program costs — just for 20 LA-area projects.
· A new 20-year $324,000 VMT housing fee, as studied in Los Angeles, will push the goal of homeownership out of reach for an additional 818,000 households, particularly harming first-time homebuyers, families, and disadvantaged communities.
· Renters will be hurt too. Imposing a VMT tax on new apartment construction of $16,200 per unit will drive up monthly rents by $1,350 — a stunning 48% increase over the state’s median rent.
· State and local mandates already add $197,000 to the price of new homes in California, including existing transportation-related VMT fees, and this new VMT housing fee would increase costs even more.
· ·Many housing projects operate on razor-thin margins; new VMT housing fees could make them financially infeasible and kill the good-paying jobs that come from new construction.
We are asking the State Legislature to repeal Section 58 in AB 130 until California policymakers have an opportunity to better study the impacts of adding VMT housing fees to newly constructed homes and apartments.
Making your voice heard is easy. Send an email urging your State Senator and Assembly Member to repeal Section 58 using the link below.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
Thank you for your help to protect housing affordability in California.
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