The ASUC Standing Committee on University and External Affairs will discuss a bill Monday night that will urge the Berkeley City Council to exempt affordable student rental housing from the city’s proposed developer’s fee.
At Monday’s meeting, the committee can make amendments to the bill and ultimately pass, table or kill it altogether. If the committee passes the bill, it will go before the ASUC Senate for a vote. If approved by the senate, ASUC External Affairs Vice President Joey Freeman will author a letter distributed to each Berkeley City Council member in support of exempting affordable student housing from the fee.
According to the current bill, the purpose of the developer fee would be defeated if developers constructing affordable student housing were subject to the fee given that increased costs for developers will eventually be passed on to student renters.
The revenue from the development fee will be placed in the city’s Housing Trust Fund to increase the supply of affordable housing in Berkeley, according to the senate bill.
The meeting, which will be open to the public, will be held on Monday at 9 p.m. in the Senate Lounge in Eshleman Hall.
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