The City has been allocated a total of 12,066 units, out of which 6,178 must be lower income.
State Housing Law defines the process for determining housing needs, and it begins at the state and regional level. The California Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) estimates future housing needs based on population projections which are adjusted based on cost burdens, vacancy rates, overcrowding rates, and other information. HCD works with the regional council of governments—which for our region is the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG)—to finalize the regional housing need, called the Regional Housing Need Determination. The final determination for SACOG was issued in July 2019 (see
Documents) and allocated the region a total of 153,512 housing units.
Housing Law subsequently requires SACOG to develop a methodology for allocating the total units to each jurisdiction. SACOG and member jurisdictions worked together beginning in August 2019 to develop the methodology and allocate units. The final plan was adopted by SACOG in March 2020 (see the Regional Housing Needs Plan in
Documents). The total share of housing units is based on the projected population within each jurisdiction, while the proportion which must be allocated to lower income is primarily driven by three factors: jobs-housing balance, fair housing, and regional income parity. Essentially, state Housing Law directs that a greater share of lower-income units be directed toward communities which have the most jobs, opportunities, and higher incomes. The intent is to avoid an overconcentration of lower income housing in areas which are economically and environmentally disadvantaged.