Measure C: C - Contributions to the Housing Fund
San Francisco County · San Francisco County · November 3, 2026
The question on your ballot
Shall the City amend the Charter to change how the City’s annual contributions to the Housing Trust Fund are set, increase funding and expand programs for affordable housing, and extend the Fund to 2058?
In plain language
Measure C would change how San Francisco decides how much money to put into its Housing Trust Fund each year. A YES vote changes how the yearly contribution is set. It increases funding and expands affordable housing programs. It also extends the Fund through 2058. A NO vote keeps the current rules and end date for the Fund.
Impartial analysis
The Way It Is Now: The City has a Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to support the creation or preservation of affordable housing and affordable home ownership. Every year, the City provides funding to the HTF, and the annual contribution is adjusted up or down based on changes in the City’s unrestricted General Fund revenue. Last year, the City contributed $50.8 million to the HTF. The City may use HTF funds for: • building, purchasing, and improving affordable housing; • downpayment assistance loans for households earning up to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI) and for emergency first responders; • assistance to households earning up to 120% of AMI to improve their housing and avoid housing loss; • grant programs for specific types of neighborhood improvements; and • administrative costs. The Housing Trust Fund that supports these programs is set to expire in 2043. The Proposal: Proposition C would change how the City’s annual contributions to the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) are set, increase funding and expand programs for affordable housing, and extend the Fund’s expiration date. • Starting in 2028, the City’s annual contribution would grow based on the greater of either: • any increases in local property tax revenue, or • the percentage increase in the unrestricted General Fund from the prior year. The City would increase its contributions to the HTF until the annual contribution meets or exceeds $125 million. After that, annual increases are capped at 3% based on increases in the General Fund. The City could pause contributions when a projected City deficit exceeds $250 million. This threshold would be adjusted each year based on changes in the General Fund. The City could also reduce contributions by up to 10% during years when the City may use its Rainy Day Reserve. • Expand affordable housing programs by: • increasing funding to create and preserve more affordable housing; • raising the household income limit for downpayment assistance loans from 120% to 200% of AMI, and allow the Board of Supervisors to change that limit by ordinance; • replacing the grant program for specific types of neighborhood improvements by authorized spending on affordable housing-related infrastructure such as sidewalks, streets, and utilities; • extending the Fund’s expiration date from 2043 to 2058. A “YES” Vote Means: If you vote “yes,” you want to amend the Charter to change how the City’s annual contributions to the Housing Trust Fund are set, increase funding and expand programs for affordable housing, and extend the Fund to 2058. A “NO” Vote Means: If you vote “no,” you do not want to make these changes.
Official ballot arguments
Filed for the official voter guide by each side, printed as submitted.
Argument in favor
San Francisco’s housing crisis is simple: rents and home prices have climbed faster than paychecks, and teachers, nurses, and multigenerational families are being priced out of the neighborhoods they grew up in or serve. Proposition C won’t solve that alone, but it renews San Francisco’s most significant source of funding for affordable housing. For over a decade, the Housing Trust Fund has been San Francisco’s foundation for building affordable housing, helping first-time buyers purchase a home, keeping first responders in the city they serve, and giving seniors a way to stay in their communities. Prop C renews the Housing Trust Fund through 2058 and increases its annual funding to $125 million. Every year we wait, the fund stays capped while rents keep climbing. Prop C does not raise anyone’s taxes. It reallocates money the City already collects, and it is fiscally responsible by design. Funding only grows when the City’s own property tax or general fund revenue grows. The City can pause or reduce contributions during a real budget deficit. This is a careful, sustainable plan, not a blank check. That is why Prop C is a true consensus measure. It was placed on the ballot unanimously by the Board of Supervisors and supported by labor and housing advocates across the city. Prop C will build and rehabilitate affordable housing, fund down payment assistance for teachers and first responders, provide rent assistance to prevent seniors from being displaced, convert vacant lots into real housing, and fund needed infrastructure. Every dollar is legally dedicated to affordable housing and subject to independent audit. This is the responsible way to keep San Francisco affordable. Vote YES on Prop C. www.HomesforSF.com Mayor Daniel Lurie Supervisor Myrna Melgar Assemblymember Catherine Stefani Rebecca Foster, CEO Housing Accelerator Fund* Malcolm Yeung, CEO Chinatown Community Development Center* *For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization. — www.HomesforSF.com; Mayor Daniel Lurie; Supervisor Myrna Melgar; Assemblymember Catherine Stefani; Rebecca Foster, CEO Housing Accelerator Fund*; Malcolm Yeung, CEO Chinatown Community; Development Center*
The Yes campaign touts the long list of things Prop C could fund. That’s nothing to brag about. Prop C gives the Fund more money, more responsibilities, and more eligible recipients — spreading taxpayer dollars across an ever-broader mission. The more things a program is asked to do, the harder it is to prioritize, measure results, and hold anyone accountable. The promised “independent audit” is no substitute for performance standards. Prop C requires no minimum number of new homes, no maximum cost per unit, and no cost-effectiveness benchmark. An audit after the money is spent is no substitute for measurable results written into law. Before committing billions in taxpayer dollars through 2058, voters must demand measurable results, cost accountability, and fiscal discipline. Vote NO on Prop C. The San Francisco Republican Party — The San Francisco Republican Party
Argument against
It Couldn’t Do the Job It Had. Now It Wants a Bigger One. San Francisco’s Housing Trust Fund was established in 2012 to help working families afford housing. It has failed. Local reporting calls the fund “a letdown” and “an existing program that has yielded little.” Since the fund’s creation, the cost to build a single affordable unit in San Francisco has roughly doubled, running close to $1 million per unit today. Instead of a fix, this measure doubles the fund’s size, locks it in for 30 more years, and stretches it thinner: – Raises the homebuyer income cap from 120% to 200% of “median income” — up to $402,000 for a family of four, in a city where the real median household income is $141,000. – Let’s the Board of Supervisors raise that cap again anytime, with no vote required. – Opens the fund to new uses like city-owned “social housing” and co-ops, all competing for the same dollars. – Swaps a specific, accountable neighborhood fund for a vague, open-ended one. Nothing in the measure requires a single additional unit to get built. There’s no unit target. No benchmark. Meanwhile, San Francisco remains tens of thousands of units short of its own housing goals. A program that already failed at one job doesn’t get fixed by giving it five new jobs and more money. Fix what’s broken first. Vote No on C. The San Francisco Republican Party — The San Francisco Republican Party
Proposition C renews and expands a program San Francisco voters already created: the Housing Trust Fund, dedicated to building affordable homes, helping teachers and first responders become homeowners, and keeping seniors from losing their housing. It includes real fiscal guardrails. The City can freeze contributions during a genuine budget deficit and reduce them by up to 10 percent in years when it draws on the Rainy Day Reserve. Funding only grows when the City’s own property tax or general fund revenue grow. This is not a blank check. It is a formula built for both growth and restraint. Every dollar is legally restricted to affordable housing, homeownership assistance, and rent relief. San Francisco’s housing costs can’t wait. Teachers, nurses, and multigenerational families are being priced out right now, and the fund that helps them is set to run out. That is why Prop C earned support from elected leaders, organized labor, and housing advocates citywide. It is the responsible, accountable way to keep this program going without raising anyone’s taxes. Vote YES on Prop C. Supervisor Myrna Melgar Assemblymember Matt Haney, Chair of the Housing and Community Development Committee Bill Barnes, Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California Nicholas Lake, Teacher* Mario Flaherty, Secretary, San Francisco Firefighters Local 798* *For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization. — Supervisor Myrna Melgar; Assemblymember Matt Haney, Chair of the Housing and; Community Development Committee; Bill Barnes, Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern; California; Nicholas Lake, Teacher*; Mario Flaherty, Secretary, San Francisco Firefighters; Local 798*
What supporters and opponents say — outside sources (not official ballot arguments)
Statements by campaigns, officials and news coverage, quoted with attribution and linked to the original. VoterDecoder did not write them and does not endorse either side.
Supporters say
No public statements in favor were found.
Opponents say
No public statements against were found.