UAH News:
A diverse group of Santa Feans is launching United for Affordable Housing (UAH), a campaign to support the upcoming citywide ballot measure to fund affordable housing.
The committee will be chaired by State Representative Andrea Romero (New Mexico House District 46) and includes Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity, Homewise, Old Santa Fe Association, New Mexico Inter-Faith Housing, YouthWorks, Chainbreaker Collective, small businesses like Java Joe’s and Santa Fe Five and Dime, and many more.
Representative Romero stated, “Santa Fe needs a permanent funding stream for affordable housing so all families can work and live here. Those who buy mansions can afford a one-time, three percent transaction tax, which translates directly into more affordable homes for Santa Feans.”
United for Affordable Housing spokesperson Sascha Anderson stated, “The diverse group of Santa Feans coming together to support affordable housing speaks to the widespread desire for real solutions to our housing crisis. In contrast, the Santa Fe Association of Realtors is proposing a regressive tax on all residential real estate sales that will harm working families and communities of color the most. We expect the Realtors Association to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect their interests and defeat this measure, which has overwhelming support among Santa Feans.”
The proposed tax will be discussed at the August 22 City Council hearing. If approved, the question will go to Santa Fe voters on November 7, 2023. The proposal calls for a one-time, three percent transaction tax on the value of homes over $1MM sold in Santa Fe. For example, a $1.1M home would see the three percent levied against $100,000 of the purchase price, for a total tax of $3,000.
Median home prices in the city of Santa Fe have increased 55% in just the last three years and have doubled since 2015. The median home price in the city of Santa Fe as of June 2023 was $605,700, an amount beyond the reach of 90% of hardworking Santa Feans, where the median household income is just $61,900. The most recent Census data tells us that 42% of the people who work in Santa Fe–people who work in our healthcare system, schools, grocery stores, tourism industry, and more–commute from outside of Santa Fe County.
