SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Sunday that a proposed housing bond will help fund projects to build affordable housing for those who are in dire need of sheltering.
"We have shovel-ready affordable housing projects that are ready to (be) built and just need funding," Breed said in a tweet.
The mayor's statement came two days after she announced Friday with President of the Board of Supervisors Norman Yee that they are supporting an increase of 100 million U.S. dollars to their proposed 500 million-dollar affordable housing bond for the November ballot.
"This affordable housing bond will help move those projects forward and create the affordable housing we so desperately need," Breed said in the tweet.
The bond, which has grown to a total size of 600 million dollars, is the largest affordable housing bond in the city's history.
While the bond is pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, city officials hope its passage, which requires a two-thirds majority, could fund the construction of 2,000 affordable housing units in the next four years.
Breed said early this month that San Francisco is "in a housing crisis that is pushing out our low- and middle-income residents."
"We desperately need more affordable housing, which is why this funding is so important," she added.
Those newly built units would be reserved for individuals and families earning below or 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), according to a bond revenue spending plan unveiled by city officials.
In 2018, the AMI for a two-person household in San Francisco was 94,700 dollars, showed the data of the the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development.
Supervisor Matt Haney said the increased sum of 100 million dollars should be used to build housing for "people who are coming out of mental health and substance abuse treatment" as 44 percent of people who exit residential treatment are released back onto the street.
