San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Regular Meeting - May 8, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Regular Meeting - May 8, 2024
The Budget and Finance Committee met on May 8, 2024, with Chair Connie Chan, Vice Chair Rafael Mandelman, and Supervisor Myrna Melgar present. The committee heard and voted on ten agenda items covering homelessness and supportive housing grants, a reserved-funds release for SFPUC transmission upgrades, airport grants and lease modifications, a cannabis equity grant, a Recology refuse-collection contract amendment, and FY2024-2025 official and outreach advertising designations. Every item was approved unanimously and, except for the heard-and-filed hearing, forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors, with actions expected on the Board's May 14, 2024 agenda.
Discussion Items
-
Item 1 - Hamilton Families Rapid Re-Housing Grant Amendment: HSH's Dylan Schneider presented a second amendment extending the agreement by 72 months through June 30, 2030 and increasing the not-to-exceed amount by approximately $12.3 million, for a total not to exceed approximately $21.9 million. The program provides rapid rehousing for at least 35 families annually, with 75 families budgeted under the housing solutions program; in calendar year 2023, Hamilton served 66 households/129 unique clients. BLA reported the grant is 84% general fund, 9% HUD ESG, and 6% Prop C, and noted underspending of over $940,000 over the prior three fiscal years with an additional projected $200,000-$500,000 underspend this year. Schneider attributed the gap to roughly 19-20 families transitioning to permanent supportive housing options. Discrepancy note: BLA's oral summary said the amendment increases the NTE by $20.9 million, conflicting with the agenda/HSH figure of about $12.3 million. The committee voted 3-0 to forward with a positive recommendation; Mandelman and Melgar added as co-sponsors.
-
Item 2 - Conard House / McAllister Hotel Grant Amendment: HSH presented a second amendment extending the term 24 months through June 30, 2026 and adding approximately $4.5 million, for a total NTE of approximately $12.8 million. The McAllister Hotel provides permanent supportive housing for up to 80 formerly homeless adults; in 2022-23 it served 90 households (41% over age 55, 20% LGBQ, 26% Black). BLA found Conard House generally meeting requirements and noted the grant is largely Care Not Cash funded. Discussion covered tenant satisfaction survey results (50% response; 84% satisfied among respondents) and increased resident acuity; Conard House staff described a fire's impacts, capital improvement funding, and the need for an additional staff person. Discrepancy note: BLA's oral summary said the amendment increases the NTE by $12.8 million, conflicting with the agenda/HSH figure of about $4.5 million. The committee voted 3-0 to forward with a positive recommendation; Mandelman added as co-sponsor.
-
Item 3 - SFPUC Release of Reserved Funds (Transmission Lines 7/8): Margaret Hannaford requested release of approximately $2,437,812.23 in mitigation payments and interest for the Transmission Lines 7/8 Upgrade Project. Total project cost is about $35.4 million, with about $33.3 million expected in mitigation payments; SFPUC has signed agreements with 15 developers totaling about $29.1 million and reported receiving $29.9 million in payments. The project is 98% complete, with construction scheduled to finish June 5, 2024 and closeout by December 31, 2024. BLA recommended release. After no public comment, the committee approved the release and heard/filed the hearing, 3-0.
-
Item 4 - FAA Airport Terminal Program Grant: SFO's Deanna Volick presented a resolution to accept and expend up to $31 million in FAA grant funds for HVAC improvements at the International Terminal, with a grant period of October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2028. The airport will provide 20% matching funds totaling $7.75 million. BLA noted total project cost is $52.5 million, with remaining costs from airport revenue bonds. The committee forwarded the resolution 3-0.
-
Items 5 & 6 - Superbay Hangar Lease Modifications (American and United Airlines): SFO requested approval of two-year lease extensions for both airlines. American's annual rent would increase 4% to $7.24 million; United's rent would remain at $5,563,768.73 even though the fair market appraisal was 2% lower, because rents cannot decrease under the lease. Estimated total rent revenue over the new terms is about $26 million. Both resolutions were forwarded 3-0.
-
Item 7 - Cannabis Equity Grants Program Grant: The Office of Cannabis requested retroactive authorization to accept and expend $2,041,520.62 from Go-Biz for the Local Equity Grants Program, with a term of April 2, 2024 through October 31, 2025. The office stated it has not yet received or expended these funds. Prior grant iterations disbursed over $11 million to more than 60 equity businesses, resulting in 52 permits and a utilization rate above 95%. The current cohort includes 23 eligible grantees, each eligible for up to $59,166.26. Vice Chair Mandelman noted the existing moratorium on new permits and an expected economic report in 2025. The resolution was forwarded 3-0.
-
Item 8 - Recology Refuse Collection Services Contract Amendment: OCA requested a fifth amendment increasing the contract NTE by $4.2 million, for a total NTE of $43.8 million, and extending the term four months through October 31, 2024, with no rate or scope change. Recology agreed to hold current rates. OCA explained that a new solicitation had been awarded to Allied Waste in January 2023, but Allied withdrew in March 2024 after appearing before the Budget & Finance Committee, prompting negotiations with Recology. OCA expects to finalize a new contract by August 2024 and seek Board approval in October 2024. The resolution was forwarded 3-0.
-
Items 9 & 10 - FY2024-2025 Official Newspaper and Outreach Periodical Designations: OCA recommended the San Francisco Examiner as the official newspaper (sole responsive bidder; the Chronicle did not meet local printing requirements). For outreach advertising, OCA received 18 proposals and deemed 13 responsive, recommending periodicals including the Bay Area Reporter, Win, World Journal, Noe Valley Voice, Potrero View, San Francisco Examiner, Sing Tao Daily, and Small Business Exchange. A public commenter from the Bay Area Independent Community Media Coalition encouraged the city to use discretionary advertising to better support local/ethnic media and reach marginalized communities. Chair Chan noted the need to revisit the advertising model despite the voter-mandated system. Both resolutions were forwarded 3-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 1: Frank Delacampa (Hamilton Families real estate manager) described a family success story and emphasized the value of landlord partnerships and workforce development in rapid rehousing.
- Item 2: Sandra Davis (Conard House associate director) reported that supportive services and HSH transferred 13 residents to more appropriate housing this fiscal year and that the building's vacancy rate was under 3% last quarter.
- Items 9 & 10: Maya Chupkoff (California Common Cause / Bay Area Independent Community Media Coalition) expressed support for local and ethnic media and urged the city to broaden its advertising and outreach programs, while not objecting to the official advertising resolutions.
Key Outcomes
- All ten agenda items passed unanimously (3-0): Chair Chan, Vice Chair Mandelman, and Supervisor Melgar voted in favor.
- Items 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 were forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with positive recommendations.
- Item 3 was approved for release of reserved funds and the hearing was heard and filed.
- The clerk announced that items acted upon are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of May 14, 2024.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the May 8, 2024 meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee. I'm Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Committee. I'm joined by Vice Chair Rafael Mendelman and Supervisor Mir Namalgar. Our clerk is Brent Halipa. I would like to thank Kalina Mendoza from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcement? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a friendly reminder to those in attendance. So please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to our meetings. Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, they should be submitted to myself, the clerk. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda when your item of interest comes up in public comment is called. Please line up to speak on the west side of the chamber to your right, my left along those curtains. And while not necessary to provide public comment, we do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them on the trade by the television to your left by the doors if you wish to be accurately recorded for the minutes. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to myself, the budget and finance committee clerk at B-R-E-N T. O V dot O R G. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office and city hall at one. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlick Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. And finally, Madam Chair, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda of May 14th, unless otherwise stated. Madam Chair. Thank you. And um before we call item one, and just wanted to remind everyone that for those items that have budget and legislative analysts report, we would like to have the city department presentation and then we go with the BLA report. Then we'll go to question and then public commons. And so with that, Mr. Clerk, please call item number one. Yes, item number one is a resolution approving the second amendment to the grant agreement between Hamilton Families and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing for Family Rapid Rehousing Services through the Housing Solutions program, extending the grant term by 72 months from June 30th, 2024 for a total term of July 1st, 2020 through June 30th, 2030, increasing the agreement or contract amount by approximately 12.3 million for a total not to exceed uh amount, approximately 21.9 million, and authorizing HSH to enter into any amendments or other modifications to the agreement that do not materially increase the obligations or liabilities or materially decrease the benefits to the city and are necessary or advisable to effectuate the purposes of the agreement, Madam Chair. Thank you. And today we have the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing here. Thank you. Good morning, honorable members of the budget and finance committee. My name is Dylan Schneider, Manager of Legislative Affairs with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. And wonderful, we have slides up. I am before you today with a resolution that would authorize HSH to enter into the second amendment to a grant agreement with Hamilton families to continue administration of the housing solutions rapid rehousing program. And just a reminder rapid rehousing is a time-limited rental subsidy that gradually decreases as the tenant stabilizes and finds housing outside of the homelessness response system. Like the scattered site items that have been before you the last few weeks, rapid rehousing tenants live in private market units and access supportive services, including case management and housing retention services through the provider. The proposed amendment was heard and approved by the homelessness oversight commission on April 4th, 2024. And today I want to thank colleagues from Hamilton families who are joining me here in chambers. So the resolution again would approve the second amendment extending the term by six years from June 30th, 2024 through June 30th, 2030. And it would increase the total not to exceed amount by 12.3 million for a total not to exceed amount of 21.9 million. And just a little bit about our uh rapid rehousing portfolio. HSH has over 1,700 slots of rapid rehousing in our supportive housing portfolio, 900 of which serve families. Through this agreement, Hamilton provides rapid rehousing for at least 35 families and provides services including housing location and coordination, landlord liaison services, subsidy administration, and housing focused case management. And in calendar year 2023, Hamilton served 66 households or 129 unique clients under this agreement.
openpublica.com