San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Meeting - September 18, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Meeting - September 18, 2024
The Budget and Finance Committee, chaired by Supervisor Connie Chan and joined by Supervisors Mirna Maugar, Hilary Ronan, and Vice Chair Rafael Mandelman, convened on September 18, 2024, at 9:15 AM to consider nine agenda items. The committee approved eight items, with one continued to the next meeting. Key actions included approving a $26.5M student success fund grant with enhanced accountability measures, setting the FY2024-2025 property tax rate, and accepting federal grants for dementia care, workers' compensation fraud prevention, and urban forestry. No public comments were offered on any item.
Discussion Items
-
Item 1: Student Success Fund Grant (Resolution 240752) – Retroactive approval of a $26,519,360 grant agreement between the City and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) administered by the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) for the period July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025. Supervisor Ronan presented amendments negotiated with DCYF to strengthen accountability, including: (1) documenting benchmarks for school-site grants in Appendix B, with FY2024-2025 benchmarks due by December 2024; (2) listing grantee/grantor responsibilities in Section 6, including oversight and final payment verification; (3) requiring quarterly invoicing with backup documentation; and (4) allowing funding to be reduced or rescinded if required positions are not filled due to hiring freezes. The resolution was amended to change the number of participating schools from 52 to 53 (clerical correction). The Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) noted the revisions meet most prior recommendations but suggested further defining individual programs in future grants.
-
Item 2: Property Tax Rate Resolution (Resolution 240851) – Setting the combined FY2024-2025 property tax rate at approximately 1.17143563% per $100 of assessed value (down from the prior year) and establishing tenant pass-through rates. Controller’s Office staff explained the rate includes voter-approved bond debt service factors. For a median-valued property ($717,300 last year), the bill is projected to increase $123.62 due to the 2% cap on assessed value increases. No public comments.
-
Item 3: Dementia Care Program Participation Agreement (Resolution 240828) – Retroactive authorization for DPH to enter a 10-year-26-day agreement with CMS for the “Guide” dementia care program, anticipated revenue $3.5M over the life. The term exceeds the standard 10-year limit by 26 days, requiring Board approval. Vice Chair Mandelman added as co-sponsor.
-
Item 4: Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud Grant (Resolution 240846) – Retroactive approval to accept $1,154,519 from the California Department of Insurance for the period July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025, to fund salaries and training for fraud investigations.
-
Item 5: Urban Forestry Grant (Ordinance 240786) – Retroactive authorization to accept and expend a $12,000,000 USDA Forest Service grant for the “Justice, Jobs and Trees” program, planting 3,500 street trees in disadvantaged communities over five years (FY2024-2029). Includes creation of seven new grant-funded positions (public information officer, senior administrative analyst, urban forestry inspector). The BLA recommended approval. DPW staff highlighted that San Francisco received the largest grant in the state for this program.
-
Item 6: Hunters Point Family – Pit Stop Grant Amendment (Resolution 240829) – Proposed amendment to increase contract amount to $16,238,478.52 and extend term 11 months. DPW requested continuation because the sixth amendment document was not included in the board packet within the required 72-hour window. The committee voted to rescind an earlier continuance vote and then corrected the resolution to reference “Amendment Number Six” instead of “Number Five.” The item was continued to the September 25, 2024 meeting.
-
Item 7: Transbay Project Delegation (Ordinance 240841) – Delegating Board approval authority to DPW to enter into contracts with the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII) for the Transbay Project, including the Under Ramp Park and Block 3 streetscape projects. The delegation is limited to contracts where the City pays no fee and terms are less than 10 years. Both Vice Chair Mandelman and Supervisor Melgar added as co-sponsors.
-
Items 8 & 9: Music Concourse Garage Appropriation and Management Agreement – Appropriation of $30,500,000 ($29M from certificates of participation proceeds and $1.5M from projected parking revenues) for acquisition and operation of the garage (Item 8), and approval of a second amendment to the parking management contract with IMCO Parking, LLC to add the garage, increasing the contract to $207M (Item 9). Staff noted the garage is expected to generate sufficient revenue to cover operating costs, debt service, and $1.5M annual net revenue to the general fund. Supervisor Melgar added as co-sponsor. Chair Chan requested a report back by June 2025 on parking fee tiering for low-income residents and specific zip codes.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Approved as amended (3-0) to correct school count to 53. Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation.
- Item 2: Approved (3-0) and forwarded to full Board.
- Item 3: Approved (3-0) and forwarded to full Board.
- Item 4: Approved (3-0) and forwarded to full Board.
- Item 5: Approved (3-0) and forwarded to full Board.
- Item 6: Continued to September 25, 2024 meeting (3-0) after correcting the amendment number to 6.
- Item 7: Approved (3-0) and forwarded to full Board.
- Items 8 & 9: Approved together (3-0) and forwarded to full Board. Items acted upon today are scheduled to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of September 24, 2024, unless otherwise noted.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke on any agenda item.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the September 18, 2024 meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee. I'm Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Committee. I'm joined by Supervisor Mirna Maugar and Supervisor Hilary Ronin, shortly by Vice Chair Rafael Mendoman. I would like to thank uh Kalina Mendoza from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Uh yes, just the friendly reminder to those in attendance to please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to our proceedings. Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, this 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 required 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. You can email them to myself, the budget and finance committee clerk at B R E N T dot J A L I P A Hat S F G-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 in City Hall at one, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit 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 September 24th, unless otherwise stated. Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clark. And before we call item number one, I would like to remind the public that we have budget and legislative analyst reports for today's items on 1, 2, 6, 8, 9 on today's agenda, and those items will have department presentation first, uh, followed by the budget and legislative analyst, and then we will have go to questions from this committee, then public comment. And so with that, Mr. Clerk, please call item number one. Yes, item number one is a resolution retroactively approving a grant agreement for a contract for the student success fund between the unified school district and the Siding County acting by and through its Department of Children, Youth and their families for a total term of July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025, and for a total not to exceed amount of approximately 26.5 million. Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And today we have Supervisor Hillary Ronan sitting with us again. Um this item was continual two weeks ago, uh, so that we can work out some potential amendments either to the legislation on the grant agreement. Supervisor Ronan. Sure. I was gonna um talk about the amendments, um, but I don't want to steal the thunder from the staff. Okay. Um my office together uh with uh chief of staff Sharice Dorsey and Director Maria Sue worked on um amendments uh that we're we're really happy with and think strengthen um the accountability uh substantially uh for this measure. So um as you know, colleagues, I am deeply concerned about ensuring that the student success fund is effective and targeted to provide the supports and innovative programming that schools need to move the needle on academic achievement and social emotional wellness for students that have historically, especially those students that have historically been left behind. Uh, this is exactly what the authors in San Francisco voters intended. I have to be honest and say I'm worried that we're able to meet this goal given the chaos that continues to ensue in the school district, which is precisely why I uh and especially depending upon DCYF uh to ensure that this massive investment we're making in schools and in student achievement and wellness uh is actually uh compatibility, right? We don't want to waste a dollar of this money. To accomplish the goals of the student success fund and provide reasonable fiscal oversight, the city must track each grant carefully and hold the district and school sites accountable for their proposed grants outcomes. Moreover, the contract language between the grantor, DCYF, and grantees, SFUSD, and the individual school sites that receive the grants should reflect clear guidelines and requirements in order to adequately track these grants. DCYF has agreed to include the following language to provide guardwells and oversight of each grant in the student success fund portfolio. To document and track all implementation grants to recipient schools, in appendix B, page A4. There are three plus two year grants. School sites must meet the benchmark by year three to continue receiving funding.
openpublica.com