By Rachel Dovey.
In June, the Los Angeles City Council postponed voting on a program that would have charged developers an extra fee for new construction, with the funds earmarked for low-income housing. On Tuesday, however, a key council committee green lit the so-called “linkage fees.” According to one committee member, their decision was a case of desperate times calling for desperate measures.
The fee would range from $1 to $15 per square foot depending on the neighborhood and project, the Los Angeles Times reports. Builders on the Westside — a higher market — would pay steeper fees, while developers in a market like San Pedro would pay less.
The city’s housing shortage and homelessness crisisacted as incentives for the 5-0 vote. President Trump has also proposed eliminating $20 million of the $28 million collected annually by L.A.’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
“We’re out of choices,” Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson reportedly said at Tuesday’s hearing. “It’s a disastrous choice to do nothing.”
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