November 12, 2024 – In the 2024 election cycle, housing advocates and renters led successful campaigns for state and local ballot measures to address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Voters across the country, in communities of all sizes and political leanings, approved ballot measures to dedicate resources to affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections, and invest in solutions to homelessness. In some communities, voters defeated harmful measures that would have undermined tenant protections or curbed the development of affordable homes. 

This article provides a snapshot of victories for affordable housing at the ballot box. A comprehensive report to be released in December will offer a more detailed summary of housing and homelessness ballot measures, their outcomes, and case studies in successful ballot measure advocacy. 

Housing Bond Measures 

  • Voters in Rhode Island passed a statewide bond measure, Question 3, that will dedicate $120 million to housing and community revitalization, including $80 million towards affordable housing. Housing Network of Rhode Island, an NLIHC state partner and Our Homes, Our Votes pilot community partner, and the Homes RI Coalition played a key role in the campaign. The measure passed with 65.6 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Local bond measures in Asheville, Charlotte, and Chapel Hill, NC, will collectively invest $135 million in affordable housing. Asheville passed a $20 million affordable housing bond with 70.9 percent of voters’ support; Charlotte passed a $100 million affordable housing bond with 63.6 percent of voters’ support; and Chapel Hill passed a $15 million affordable housing bond with 72.9 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Baltimore, MD, approved a $20 million affordable housing bond with 83.4 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Bernalillo County, NM, approved a $1.7 million bond to remodel and improve public housing. 69.3 percent of voters supported the measure. 
  • San Francisco, CA, passed a $390 million bond to finance community health and medical facilities, including temporary shelters. Monterey Peninsula, CA, and San Jose, CA, each passed comprehensive school district bonds that will cover a variety of education-related projects, including affordable housing for teachers and staff. 

Taxes and Fees 

  • Measure A, a half-cent sales tax that would raise $1 billion annually for homelessness prevention, housing, and mental health services, passed in Los Angeles County, with 55.8 percent of voters’ support. The Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing (SCANPH), an NLIHC state partner and Our Homes, Our Votes pilot community partner, and the Residents United Network–Los Angeles were leaders in the organizing effort to pass Measure A. 
  • Voters in St. Louis, MO, approved Proposition S, which establishes a 3 percent hotel tax that will dedicate at least half of its proceeds to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and other affordable housing initiatives. The measure passed with 69 percent of voters’ approval. 
  • Ingham County, MI, passed a four-year property tax increase to support its Housing Trust Fund, which will replace federal ARPA dollars used to establish the fund. The revenues will be used for affordable housing development, downpayment assistance, and programs for unhoused residents. The measure passed with 61.8 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Voters in Lawrence, KS approved a half-cent sales tax increase, with the revenues to be divided between affordable housing projects and emergency shelter/homelessness services. The tax is anticipated to raise about $2.5 million annually. 53.3 percent of voters approved the measure. 
  • Avon, CO, approved a 4 percent use tax on construction materials, which will raise an estimated $4 million for community housing projects. 53 percent of voters supported the measure.
  • Montrose, CO, voted to raise its hotel room tax rate from 0.9 percent to 6 percent. The new revenues will fund affordable housing, childcare, and other projects to mitigate the impact of tourism. 51.6 percent of voters approved the measure. 
  • Mt. Crusted Butte, CO, voted to raise its lodging tax from 2.9 percent to 4.9 percent, with revenues to be invested in community housing projects. 69.5 percent of voters approved the measure. 
  • Pitkin County, CO, passed a property tax increase that will generate an estimated $8.5 million annually for affordable housing (including acquisition, construction, and conversion of units into deed-restricted affordable housing), mental health care, and senior services. 59.5 percent of voters approved the measure.
  • Townsend, Swampscott, Sheffield, and Winchester, MA, each voted to adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which provides state matching funds for municipalities that enact a property tax surcharge to raise local resources. Community preservation funds can be spent on accessible housing, open space protection, and historic preservation. The measure passed with 55.1 percent of voters’ support in Townsend, 55.6 percent in Swampscott, and 53.5 percent in Winchester. 
  • Berkeley, CA, approved Measure W, which amends the city’s existing property transfer tax to create a four-tier structure that will raise an additional $2 to $4 million annually for homeless services. Measure W also makes the property transfer tax permanent. The measure passed with 58.2 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Santa Barbara, CA, passed Measure I, a half-cent sales tax increase to fund a range of government services. City council staff named contributions to the city’s local Housing Trust Fund, improving housing affordability, and addressing homelessness as priority uses for the new revenues. The measure passed with 63 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Voters in Aspen, CO, supported two separate measures to extend its 1% real estate transfer tax and 0.45% sales tax, both of which provide revenues for affordable housing programs. The twenty-year extension of the real estate transfer tax (Issue 2A) passed with 68.1 percent of voters’ support. The ten-year extension of the sales tax (Issue 2B) passed with 72.3 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Mountain View, CA, approved Measure G, which raises the property transfer tax on residential and commercial real estate valued above $6 million. The revenues will be dedicated to affordable housing, 911 emergency response, and street repairs. 71.8 of voters supported the measure.

Reallocation and Preservation of Existing Resources 

  • New Orleans voters approved a home rule charter amendment that will establish a local Housing Trust Fund. The charter amendment allocates 2 percent of the city’s General Fund to the Housing Trust Fund, providing an estimated $15 to $20 million annually for affordable housing programs. The measure passed with 75.5 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Voters in San Francisco, CA, approved Proposition G, which will dedicate at least $8.25 million annually to rental subsidies for extremely low-income seniors, families, and people with disabilities. The measure passed with 56.5 percent of voters’ support. 
  • Voters in East Palo Alto, CA, overwhelmingly supported Measure JJ, which will allocate funds from the city’s existing 2.5% tax on gross receipts on residential units to rental assistance and other housing support. The tax raises about $1.45 million annually. At least 30 percent of funds will be used for rental assistance for tenants, and a maximum of 20 percent of funds can be used for administration. The remaining funds may be used to support affordable homeownership, preserve affordable housing, provide rental assistance, or protect residents from displacement or homelessness. Measure JJ passed with 76.4 percent of voters’ support. 
  • San Miguel County, CO, voted to reallocate a portion of revenues from its Parks and Open Space Mill Levy to affordable housing development, with an estimated $636,000 to be dedicated to affordable housing in 2025. 65 percent of voters supported the measure. 
  • Orange County, FL, passed a charter amendment that enshrines the existence of the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which creates and preserves affordable housing. 74 percent of voters supported the measure.

Tenant Protections

  • In Hoboken, NJ, voters overwhelmingly defeated a measure that would have dismantled the city’s rent control protections. The measure would have allowed landlords to increase rent to market price without limitations when a current tenant moves out, in exchange for a $2,500 per-unit contribution to the Hoboken Affordable Housing Trust Fund. 73 percent of voters rejected the measure.
  • In Berkeley, CA, 52.7 percent of voters supported Measure BB, a tenant-led measure that will strengthen the city’s rent stabilization ordinance and codify tenants’ right to organize. Measure BB will reduce the maximum annual rent increase from 7 percent to 5 percent, remove certain exemptions from rent stabilization, strengthen just cause eviction protections, and establish tenants’ right to organize with a simple majority in properties with 10 or more units and at smaller buildings with property management companies. 
  • Meanwhile, 62.4 percent of Berkeley voters rejected Measure CC, an alternative initiative backed by the Berkeley Property Owners Association. Measure CC would have directed 20 percent of business taxes on rental properties into a “Berkeley Housing and Homeless Protection Account” that would have paid back-rent to landlords. Measure CC also would have expanded rent control exemptions, stripped the rent board of certain powers, and raised the maximum allowable rent increase from 7 percent to 7.1 percent. While the measure would have also established tenants’ right to organize, it would have required a two-thirds majority of tenants to form an association, and would not authorize the rent board to determine whether owners are conferring in good faith. 
  • Old Orchard Beach, ME, approved a rent stabilization ordinance to protect mobile homeowners from displacement. The ordinance caps annual lot rent increases at 5 percent in mobile home parks. 71.4 percent of voters approved the measure.
  • Santa Ana, CA, is on track to adopt Measure CC, which will enshrine its rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections in the city charter so that they can only be changed by voter approval, not the city council. 55.4 percent of voters supported the measure.

Zoning and Land Use 

  • In Oroville, CA, 58.8 percent of voters supported a measure that allows the Butte County Housing Authority to develop 18 deeply affordable homes. 
  • Voters in Cypress, CA, passed Measure S, which authorizes the development of 676 additional homes in the town center, amounting to two-thirds of the units required to meet the town’s Housing Element obligations under state law. The measure passed with 57.5 percent of voters’ approval.
  • In San Mateo, CA, 58.7 percent of voters supported Measure T, an update to the city’s General Plan that will increase height and density limits in 10 areas, including neighborhoods near Caltrain stations. The increased density will enable the city to meet the targets in its Housing Element, which is required under state housing law. 
  • Yorba Linda, CA, overwhelmingly passed Measure JJ, which will zone the city to accommodate at least an additional 1,900 homes. The passage of Measure JJ will enable Yorba Linda to obtain state certification of its Housing Element. 90.4 percent of voters supported the measure.
  • In Eureka, CA, voters rejected Measure F, which would have required that new affordable housing developments on downtown city-owned parking lots include enough parking spots to replace those lost to construction. The measure also would have zoned a former middle school site to allow for potential housing development. Opponents of Measure F noted that the parking requirement would amount to a housing development ban, as the parking mandate would make housing development too expensive to be feasible. 68.3 percent of voters rejected Measure F. 
  • In Snowmass, CO, voters authorized a 79-unit workforce housing project. 55.9 percent of voters supported the measure. 
  • In Chaffee County, CO, voters authorized the Chaffee Housing Authority to maintain revenues that will allow it to proceed with construction on Jane’s Place, a mixed-use development that includes transitional housing. 59 percent of voters supported the measure.
  • In Camden, ME, voters approved a zoning change that will allow for the conversion of a schoolhouse into an apartment building with residences on the ground floor, paving the way for new affordable homes for teachers. 77 percent of voters supported the measure.

Did your community achieve a victory for affordable homes at the ballot box that is not included on this list? Email ourhomes@nlihc.org to share information so we can ensure that your measure is reflected in our end-of-year report. 

For more information about housing ballot measures, visit: www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/ballot-measures