☆ Here’s an equation for local gov’t: less taxes + less onerous regulations = greater affordability

Old piggybank from between 1300 - 1500. Image by Rijksmuseum

Whether we’re talking CEQA, licensing req’ts, gas mandates, or sales taxes, CA congressional candidate Peter Coe Verbica and SF Libertarian chair Starchild argue that less is more—and would empower folks to stay in the Bay. Not flee to other, more cost-effective states. An Opp Now exclusive roundup.

Peter Coe Verbica, District 19 congressional candidate: Affordability tops the list of concerns for a majority of San Jose residents. Housing is usually their biggest expense.

For renters, these sentences provided by Apartments.com summarize the dilemma: “The cost of living in San Jose, CA is 81.0% higher than the national average. Generally, housing in San Jose is 223.2% more expensive than the national average, with rent falling between $2,319 – $4,152.” Homeowners face similar challenges as renters, and more (like rising home insurance costs).

Here are five solutions that local government can implement:

1. Support dramatic CEQA reforms to dismantle the burdens artificially restricting housing supply.

2. Support an end to reformulated gas requirements.

3. Invest in water storage infrastructure, per the voter mandate of Proposition 1 in 2014 and other water infrastructure initiatives.

4. Restore selective timber harvesting, cattle grazing, prudent fire break management, and spring and watering pond development on public open space and park lands.

5. Immediately lower regional sales taxes to help alleviate the tax burden on San Jose residents; residents in the 95125 zip code who pay 9.375% sales tax might be surprised to learn that when sales taxes were first introduced, the rate was 2.5%!

Go Deeper:

• Analysis: Why Bay Area cities should call it quits with CEQA, PLAs, rent controls
• Worker exodus from Bay Area continues apace
• Regional groups say coming flurry of tax increases lack creativity, foresight

Starchild, Libertarian Party of San Francisco chair: It’s quite simple when you think about it: the more money people have, the more affordable living in Silicon Valley will be—and the less money government takes from them, the more they will have.

This includes not just obvious takings like taxes, but less obvious ones like fees, fines, and laws or regulations that restrict or criminalize ways to earn money. For instance, laws that don’t let people work without expensive licenses or certifications; zoning laws that criminalize growing and selling your own vegetables or running other home businesses; penal codes that criminalize busking, sidewalk vending, operating your vehicle as a taxi; etc.

Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity

Sign up to receive updates on Opp Now articles

Email Address:

First Name:

Last Name:

We prize letters from our thoughtful readers. Typed on a Smith Corona. Written in longhand on fine stationery. Scribbled on a napkin. Hey, even composed on email. Feel free to send your comments to us at opportunitynowsv@gmail.com or (snail mail) 1590 Calaveras Ave., SJ, CA 95126. Remember to be thoughtful and polite. We will post letters on an irregular basis on the main Opp Now site.