City Impacts

TOPA leads to drastically reduced city revenue, threatening cuts in city services and staffing. Properties with deed restrictions limiting rent levels and future sale price will be worth hundreds of thousands less compared to those without. Lower property value also means lower property tax revenue for the county and city. Special interest TOPA developers also aim to exempt their buildings from paying property taxes. When special interests exempt their buildings from property taxes, critical city programs for seniors and public safety would be at risk while homeowners would have to pick up the slack in property taxes.

TOPA’s interference at the point of sale and open market pricing will also result in fewer transactions as most residents would be hurt by selling at a drastic loss due to extended time delays and increased legal fees, killing city revenue even more. Crucial city services and staffing is tied to city revenue with multiple weak links that will quickly unravel. While facing reduced revenue streams, the city will also be faced with defending expensive lawsuits for infringing on property rights, privacy rights, and basic constitutional rights. The TOPA proposal in Richmond and a prior draft of Berkeley’s TOPA legislation allow for a city-approved appraiser to set the property sales price. Allowing the city government to dictate property the sales price is hugely problematic legally, as are the forced deed restrictions placed on properties.

TOPA in Washington D.C.

TOPA has been in Washington DC for 40+ years and has not shown to be effective. The fact that TOPA has not spread across the country after decades shows that there are serious problems with TOPA. DC removed properties from TOPA restrictions and defunded TOPA.

• 2018 DC exempts properties from TOPA restrictions (All single Family Homes, condominiums and townhomes).

• 2019 DC city council voted to defund the Preservation Fund (AHPF) supporting TOPA.

• 2020 DC Mayor Bowser proposes cutting the Preservation Fund (AHPF) supporting TOPA to $1 million.

  • Rental Assistance, Downpayment Assistance and Homeless programs are EFFECTIVE Affordable Housing approaches, NOT TOPA. DC allocates funds for various housing programs based on tangible metrics.

  • Funding TOPA strips money from EFFECTIVE Affordable Housing programs that is MORE helpful to tenants.

  • Rental Assistance makes up over 50% of DC’s Total Annual Affordable Housing budget, which is around $300 million annually. TOPA funding is less than 5% of DC’s Total Affordable Housing budget. Only a small fraction of DC’s Housing Preservation Trust Fund (HPTF) goes to support TOPA.

• DC regularly reviews performance metrics on various affordable housing programs. The TOPA program fails to report tangible outcomes in official reports every year. Even after 40+ years and everyone asking for TOPA data, the DC TOPA program does not officially track completed transactions to provide in official city budget reports because TOPA has poor outcomes.

• Proponents claim TOPA will completely relieve gentrification and minority displacement. After decades of TOPA in DC, a study found DC has had the most gentrifying neighborhoods across the country with 20,000 black residents displaced.