Aggie Square EIFD Public Financing Authority Special Meeting - April 13, 2021
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Aggie Square Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District Public Financing Authority Special Meeting - April 13, 2021
The Aggie Square Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) Public Financing Authority (PFA) held a special teleconference meeting on April 13, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. to conduct the third and final public hearing on forming the Aggie Square EIFD and adopting the Infrastructure Financing Plan. The meeting included staff presentations, public testimony from labor representatives, and board discussion leading to a unanimous vote to form the district and adopt the plan, with additional direction to staff.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Scott Little Hale, representative of Carpenters Local Union 46, expressed concern that a hole in state prevailing wage law means only minimum wage standards would apply to affordable housing projects funded by EIFD loans outside the district. He noted that construction workers in Sacramento County are 40% more likely to be low income and three times more likely to lack health insurance, and urged the PFA to address this omission in the plan or implementing policies.
- Marco Lattori, senior agent for the Carpenters Union, requested that any money loaned from the EIFD for affordable housing include requirements for prevailing wage, healthcare, apprenticeship standards, and local hire standards.
Discussion Items
- Eric Frederick (Finance Department) presented the third public hearing item, noting the plan had been revised since the March 9, 2021 hearing. A typographical error on page 39 was corrected: the initial phase development will generate approximately 3,100 on-site employees, not 3,500.
- Jamie Gomes (EPS consultant) summarized key revisions: text refinements for EIFD law compliance, clarified revenue definitions, and an updated map showing the intended area for affordable housing investments.
- Councilmember Guerra distinguished between on-campus housing (by UC Davis/Wexford, subject to prevailing wage and not using EIFD funds) and future affordable housing projects funded by the EIFD’s 20% housing set-aside. Staff confirmed that policies for wage standards on those projects will be determined by the PFA and likely city council within the next year, as EIFD funds will take at least a year to become available.
- Discussion on ongoing community involvement: Leslie Fritzsche (Office of Innovation and Economic Development) outlined plans for working groups on transportation, workforce, housing, and youth engagement; quarterly town halls; and regular reporting. Councilmember Jennings emphasized a transparent process moving from engagement to partnership.
- Chair Schenirer requested a fact sheet on potential excess EIFD funds (beyond the 80% capital improvements and 20% affordable housing commitments) and options for directing those funds to the community, possibly augmenting the $150,000 annual commitment from Wexford.
Key Outcomes
- The PFA voted unanimously (5-0) to close the public hearing and adopt the resolutions forming the Aggie Square Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District and adopting the Infrastructure Financing Plan. The ordinance will be brought back for a second reading and final adoption on April 20, 2021.
- Additional direction to staff: work with labor, community stakeholders, the developer (Wexford), and UC Davis to schedule follow-up meetings addressing workforce, local hire, and prevailing wage concerns.
- Staff directed to prepare a fact sheet on the timeline and possible uses of excess EIFD revenues for presentation at a future PFA meeting.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to remind the members that once I start the 30-second clock, we start our video stream. So we should refrain from conversations. Chair Shane, staff is ready when you are. Great. Thanks very much, Madam Clerk. Want to call this meeting to order, please go ahead and call the roll to establish a quorum. Councilmember Gatta. Here. Council Member Jennings. I am here. Member Hernandez. Here. Member Titherington. Here. And Chair Shaneer. I am here. Great. Okay. Leslie, are you running us today? Leslie Pritchy. Yes, I actually am going to uh turn over the item to Eric Frederick, who will be uh walking through the item uh along with our consultant uh Jamie Goimes of EPS. Okay. Thank you, Leslie. Uh good morning, Chair Shaneer, members of the Aggie Square PFA, Eric Frederick with your finance department. Uh the item before you is the third and final public hearing on the proposed formation of the City of Sacramento, Aggie Square EIFD, and adoption of the infrastructure financing plan for that proposed district. Uh the plan before you today has been revised from the version that was presented at the last public hearing held on March 9th, but it is the same plan that was approved by the city council last week, uh, with the exception of one edit that I would like to read into the record. Um, on page 39, the plan states that the initial phase development translates into approximately uh 3,500 on-site employees. Uh that number should instead be 3100. Uh, this was a simple type on the text and does not affect any of the analyses or conclusions presented in the plan. Um, staff's recommendation is to conduct the public hearing and upon conclusion, adopt the resolutions in your packet to form the EIFD. Uh, also included for your review is an ordinance to adopt the plan, which will be brought back to the PFA in one week for a second reading and official adoption. Uh finally, Jamie Gomes from EPS is here once again to provide a brief summary of the key revisions made to the plan since the last version that was presented to you. Um, but before we do that, um, there's a very long list of people to thank for their work on this project, but I would like to give uh special thank you to Jamie and Sean at EPS for their spectacular work on this. Uh, their professionalism and ability to meet extremely tight deadlines was and is very much appreciated. Um, so with that, Jamie, I'll turn it over to you. All right, thank you, Derek. Um, I do have a very, very brief PowerPoint presentation that I will uh share. And again, as Eric uh introduced, this is simply to highlight the changes to the infrastructure financing plan. So the morning church mayor, Jamie Gomes with economic and planning systems. Uh EPS was hired by the city to prepare the infrastructure financing plan for the proposed Aggie Square EIFD. So this morning, I'm just gonna walk through uh brief updates to the PowerPoint. Okay, so uh as Eric mentioned, um, this document is the same version that uh was approved by city council back on April 6th, and it now includes a comprehensive review by city staff, including city attorney's office, as well as outside legal council. So there have been several text refinements and really just to ensure compliance with the EIFE law and um the uh updated business terms that were also approved by the city council. Umdates included the definition of EIFD revenues again. You just make a very clear and distinct definition of what revenues are considered EIG revenues. That clarity does ensure alignment with the business terms, and then lastly, the uh infrastructure financing plan includes the updated map where the city um has intended to uh invest in affordable housing. This chart will look familiar to you. It is included within the document, and we only will substantive changes to this. Um, but the notes at the bottom of the table now are aligned with the business terms and just reflect what would occur in uh in circumstances if the easy Davis happens to lease more space, either in the parking garage or in the structures than was originally anticipated during the initial lease term. And then lastly, that's also a little bit familiar to you.
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