Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff
Environment California awarded Mayor Ron Dellums and the City of Oakland with a “2009 Solar Champion” award for having one of the highest rankings for solar roofs and solar power installed in the state. According to Environment California, Oakland has more than 642 solar roofs and 7,007 kilowatts installed (or solar capacity).
“This award is a significant acknowledgement of the diligence and commitment Oakland has towards the goal of sustainability and energy efficiency,” said Mayor Dellums in a written statement. “I commend the effort and results of the various businesses, residents, and city staff which have taken the lead to ensure that Oakland remains a statewide leader in this critical area.”
Oakland’s award comes after the release of Environment California Research & Policy Center’s latest report, California’s Solar Cities: Leading the Way to a Clean Energy Future, which analyzes the amount of solar power installed in California on a city by city basis.
New Bay Street project can create “Main Street” for Emeryville
As the City Council considers spending millions of public dollars on the second phase of a large-scale retail project, the Coalition for a Better Bay Street will unveil a new report chronicling resident priorities for development and offering solutions to help achieve greater transparency and sustainability.
Bringing Main Street back to Bay Street: WinWin Solutions to Create Good Jobs and Livable Communities in Emeryville outlines ways that the City of Emeryville, the developer, Madison Marquette, and the community together can achieve a more inclusive project. These solutions include closing the legal loop hole that allows service workers to be paid povertylevel wages, creating more family-sized affordable housing, and exploring financial contributions by the developer and resource sharing by the City and school district to improve school facilities.
The report’s recommendations are informed by a survey of over 400 residents, which revealed that a plurality chose family-sized affordable housing, quality accessible jobs, and building a world-class education system as their top three priorities for new development in Emeryville. Sixty percent (60 percent) of those surveyed felt their City was only “somewhat attentive” or “not at all attentive” to community needs in development.
Reductions in home values, assessment to grow slower
Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting announced his offi ce granted a temporary reduction in assessed value to 9,997 homes in San Francisco, which is allowed under state law (Proposition 8) if the current market value is lower than the assessed value. This is the first time since the mid-1990s the Assessor’s office has proactively issued widespread reductions.
Despite the reductions, the total 2009 property assessment roll grew 6.98 percent from last year totaling $151.96 billion, which represents secured and unsecured real property and business personal property less exemptions.
The total decline in roll value due to the temporary reductions (including 4,749 timeshares) was over $1.2 billion which totals approximately $14.2 million in reduced property taxes paid to the city (depending on the property tax rate set). The total temporary reductions represent less than 1percent of the total 2009 assessment roll.
San Francisco has historically seen increases in its total roll value from year to year primarily due to the 2 percent annual inflationary increase allowed under Proposition 13. Since 1999 the roll has grown each year by between 4.68 percent to 10.10 percent.
