Connect with us

Bay Area

‘Extremely Disturbing’: City Audit Reveals Mayor’s Office of Housing Has $482 Mil in Unspent Funds

A San Francisco supervisor is calling for a hearing to find solutions to problems within the city’s affordable housing production team. Supervisor Dean Preston requested the hearing during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, in response to a nearly two-year performance audit of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development released the same day.

Published

on

The audit found that the department, which oversees the city's affordable housing projects, counted on informal records and internal discussions for its decision-making. The department has also had an average surplus of $482 million in unspent funds for the past five years.
The audit found that the department, which oversees the city's affordable housing projects, counted on informal records and internal discussions for its decision-making. The department has also had an average surplus of $482 million in unspent funds for the past five years.

By Olivia Wynkoop
Bay City News

A San Francisco supervisor is calling for a hearing to find solutions to problems within the city’s affordable housing production team.

Supervisor Dean Preston requested the hearing during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, in response to a nearly two-year performance audit of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development released the same day.

The audit found that the department, which oversees the city’s affordable housing projects, counted on informal records and internal discussions for its decision-making. The department has also had an average surplus of $482 million in unspent funds for the past five years.

Per request by the Board of Supervisors in July 2021, the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst investigated how the housing department reported the status of housing projects, prioritized funding and handled unspent funds.

The audit found that the department did not comply with city reporting requirements, did not have a formalized record-keeping system on how financial decisions were made and could not provide clarity on where unused funds are going.

The audit cited that 93 percent of the department’s unused funds were dedicated to housing developments, though it’s unknown if 58 percent of those funds are officially set in stone with a committed loan.

Preston, who called for the audit, alleged that the office itself is a “major barrier” to the city reaching its ambitious affordable housing goals – San Francisco is aiming to build 46,500 new units by 2031.

“Given what is revealed in this audit, I am deeply concerned that we are entrusting the crucial task of affordable housing production to a department that has no oversight, no transparency, no policies guiding key funding decisions, and cannot even account for a half billion-dollar balance — namely how much is committed and how much is available,” Preston said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Eric Shaw, director of MOHCD, responded to the audit via letter, and said the department faces “substantial complexities” that make it difficult to make concrete policies.

“Due to the complexity of aligning unpredictable funding streams in a volatile market, financing affordable housing projects is a complex process that cannot be replicated or standardized over years or across projects,” reads the letter addressed to Severin Campbell, director of the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 25 – July 1, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 25 – July 1, 2025

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Subscribe to receive news and updates from the Oakland Post

* indicates required

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE OAKLAND POST

ADVERTISEMENT

WORK FROM HOME

Home-based business with potential monthly income of $10K+ per month. A proven training system and website provided to maximize business effectiveness. Perfect job to earn side and primary income. Contact Lynne for more details: Lynne4npusa@gmail.com 800-334-0540

Facebook

Trending

Copyright ©2021 Post News Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.