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REDWOOD CITY FAIR AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING ORDINANCE <br /> <br />Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. 24 Cumulative Impacts <br />some 100 percent affordable projects that received a state density bonus and/or <br />related waivers and concessions. Therefore, this fee mostly remains in place for <br />inclusionary and density bonus projects that have a mix of market-rate and <br />affordable units. <br />Residential Rental Business License Fee <br />The City also recently approved a new residential rental business license fee <br />through Measure BB. Beginning in 2025, rental housing businesses that have four <br />or more units (owners with three or fewer units are exempt) are subject to a <br />$90/property fixed annual registration fee, plus approximately $32 per rental unit <br />tax annually 21. This fee applies broadly to rental housing and would be layered on <br />top of any program fees established to administer the proposed Ordinance. Note, <br />deed-restricted affordable units are required to pay the registration fee but are <br />exempt from the per unit tax. <br />Utilities and Operating Expenses <br />Property owners identified rising utility costs as an ongoing operating challenge, <br />particularly for older and master-metered properties. Water, sewer, solid waste, <br />electricity, and natural gas costs were frequently cited as expenses that have <br />increased materially in recent years. Sewer costs were specifically identified as a <br />concern. Redwood City’s sewer, Solid Waste and Water utility rates are shown <br />in Table 12. <br />For pre-1995 multifamily properties that are master-metered, these increases are <br />particularly difficult to absorb because owners often rely on RUBS or similar <br />allocation methods to recover shared utility costs from tenants. To the extent the <br />proposed Ordinance restricts or prohibits the use of RUBS, the burden of these <br />rising utility costs falls more directly on property owners, reducing net operating <br />income and limiting flexibility to absorb other new regulatory costs. However, <br />under the proposed Ordinance, property owners may petition for an upward rent <br />adjustment for increase in utility costs. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />21 The prior business license tax rate was $21/unit <br />8.A. - Page 83 of 168 <br />93