San Rafael, CA – Consistent with its goal to preserve and expand affordable housing, the County of Marin is using money from its housing trust fund to help a West Marin nonprofit purchase a home in Point Reyes Station and preserve it as a permanently affordable home.
On December 12, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a grant of $110,000 to the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin, commonly called CLAM, to buy the 13-year-old home on Giacomini Way. CLAM intends to sell the home to a low-income family.
In addition to the County support, more than $350,000 has been raised by other donors, including a grant of $110,000 from the Marin Community Foundation. CLAM raised $112,071 in local funding and the Tamalpais Pacific Foundation contributed another $50,000. The County’s grant does not affect the County’s General Fund budget.
The Board of Supervisors made the preservation of affordable housing a top priority several years ago as more Marin residents expressed concern about being priced out because of high rents and mortgages.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing and utility costs should about 30 percent of a household's gross income. For homeowners, that includes principal, interest, taxes and insurance, and for renters it includes rent and utilities.
The mission of the County’s Affordable Housing Program, managed by the Community Development Agency, is to preserve and expand the range and supply of adequate, accessible, and affordable housing through housing policies, regulations and programs. For the sake of enhancing socioeconomic balance in local communities, the County’s In-Lieu Housing Trust Fund was created in 1980 to increase the stock of affordable homes in Marin and provide a local funding source for financial and technical assistance to help low and very low income households.
Learn more by checking the Housing Trust Fund implementation guide and funding application on the County’s Affordable Housing webpage.