California Auditor Slams State for Housing Crunch, Wasted Bonds
- State with most homelessness let $2.7 billion of bonds expire
- Lack of ‘effective approach,’ oversight lead to home shortage
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California has no comprehensive approach to building affordable housing and its mismanagement resulted in the loss of $2.7 billion of bond-issuing authority that could have gone toward preventing more residents falling into homelessness, according to a report from state Auditor Elaine Howle released Tuesday.
While the state has four agencies providing financial support to housing developers, their requirements are “misaligned and inconsistent, which results in an unnecessarily cumbersome process,” the audit said. It called for the elimination of a debt committee chaired by Treasurer Fiona Ma that allocates the state’s limited bond capacity.