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The ASUC Senate will discuss a bill Wednesday evening to encourage the Berkeley City Council to exempt developers from a fee in an effort to increase student housing affordability.

If the development fee were levied on affordable housing developments, the raised cost would likely be passed on to student renters, which negates the mission of affordable student housing, said Cooperative Movement Senator Elliot Goldstein, a co-author of the bill, in an email.

 

The council is considering the fee to minimize the effect of new housing development on the supply of affordable housing, but it has yet to propose an amount, said Amy Davidson, senior management analyst for the city’s housing and community services.

Davidson said the staff recommendation for the exact amount for the development fee is $20,000 per market unit, but it could be higher or lower depending on how the council votes.

 

The revenue from the development fee will be placed in the city’s Housing Trust Fund, the city’s fund for affordable housing projects, according to the senate bill. The bill also asks for needed financial assistance from the fund for affordable student housing.

“As the cost of tuition continues to increase, it is critical that affordable housing be available to take some of the pressure off of the cost of living,” Goldstein said in the email.