San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Regular Meeting - October 7, 2026

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee met on October 7, 2026, chaired by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, with Vice Chair Cheyenne Chen and later Supervisor Danny Sauter, who was excused until his arrival. The committee considered 12 items involving election funding, an airport shuttle contract amendment, grant acceptances, city leases, a Navy master lease extension, a tax-defaulted property sale, and a small hardware retailer tax credit. All items were forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with positive recommendations; two items were approved as amended.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public speakers appeared for items 1 through 11; each public comment period was opened and closed without testimony.
• For item 12, Terry Aston Bennett, co-owner of Cliff’s Variety and a fifth-generation owner, said Proposition M doubled her gross receipts tax and asked the committee to help hardware stores survive.
• Also for item 12, Jamie Gettner, co-owner of Center Hardware in Dogpatch, said the business has been in San Francisco since 1880 and asked the committee to protect legacy businesses.

Discussion Items

• Item 1 – Elections supplemental appropriation ($658,000): Department of Elections Director John Arnes said the State allocated $34 million to counties for the November 2026 election, with San Francisco receiving $658,000. The funds would support equipment purchases and rentals (~$350,000), temporary staffing and overtime (~$200,000), and outreach (~$100,000) to expedite ballot processing. The BLA recommended approval and noted a new ongoing general fund cost of about $35,000 per year for equipment licensing and maintenance. The ordinance requires a two-thirds approval vote of the full Board for certain salary and benefits appropriations. The committee forwarded the item with a positive recommendation (2-0).
• Item 2 – SFO shuttle bus contract amendment: SFO staff and the BLA presented modification number three to the contract with SFO Hotel Shuttle Inc. for airport shuttle bus services. The agenda listed a proposed new not-to-exceed amount of $98,575,004; the BLA recommended reducing it to $98,110,172, and the department agreed. The amendment supports expanded regional commuter routes, higher labor and operating costs, and planned future service expansions, with no change to the five-year term ending December 31, 2027. The BLA noted a fixed management fee of about $77,000 per month and that the contractor generally meets expectations, with improvements still needed in incident reporting and customer complaint responses. The committee amended the resolution to the reduced amount and forwarded it (2-0).
• Item 3 – Crankstart Foundation grant ($525,000): District Attorney’s Office Chief of Staff Monifa Willis requested retroactive authorization to accept and expend $525,000 from Crankstart for the Access to Hope Initiative, including the Sojourn to the Past civil rights history trip for youth in areas most affected by crime. The grant would support three years of programming. Chair Dorsey expressed strong personal support for the program. The committee forwarded the item (2-0).
• Item 4 – Cal OES probation grant ($300,000 total): Adult Probation legislative manager Alex Hartwick said the grant, federally funded through the Violence Against Women Act, would partially fund one deputy probation officer in the domestic violence unit over three years, with a $25,000 annual city match. He noted some federal victim-services funding had been cut, but funding for justice agencies remained. The committee forwarded the item (2-0).
• Item 5 – Pier 96 lease with NorCal Rental Group/Cresco: Port staff said the new lease covers approximately 45,000 square feet of paved land at Pier 96 (staff cited about 44,750 square feet) for storage and parking of construction-related vehicles and equipment. The initial term is five years with options for five additional years; first-year monthly rent is approximately $32,000, or 71 cents per square foot per month, with a total potential base rent of about $4.3 million. Six and a half percent of lease revenue goes to the Port’s Southern Waterfront Beautification Fund. The BLA noted a port-wide 5% large-land discount and recommended approval. The committee forwarded the item (2-0).
• Item 6 – NIH HIV Prevention Trials Network grant increase: DPH’s Dr. Hyman Scott requested retroactive authorization for an approximately $72,000 increase to a National Institutes of Health grant through Family Health International, bringing the total to approximately $181,434, for research on mobile health tools for HIV and STI prevention. Chair Dorsey voiced strong support for HIV prevention work and continued federal investment. The committee forwarded the item (2-0).
• Item 7 – BHCIP Round 2 grant for Treasure Island behavioral health facility (approximately $14.2 million): DPH’s Dr. Kelly Hom said the grant from the California Department of Health Care Services would support construction of a 120-unit behavioral health facility at 415 Trade Winds Avenue on Treasure Island, with 44 substance-use residential treatment beds and up to 256 transitional recovery housing beds. The city is accepting non-standard state terms, including a 30-year declaration of restrictions, receiver authority, and indemnification obligations. The BLA reported total construction and furnishing costs of $80.5 million, with the grant contributing about $13.5 million, and estimated annual operating costs of about $4.9 million, approximately 80% reimbursed by Medi-Cal, leaving about $1 million per year locally funded. Chair Dorsey expressed strong support for the project and the recovery continuum. The committee forwarded the item (3-0).
• Items 8 and 9 – DPH leases for the Black Infant Health Program: DPH asset manager Pete Byrne said the leases at 1290 Fillmore Street and 1533 Eddy Street support the Black Infant Health Program, which serves Black and African American families and is the first such program in California to include an on-site mental health therapist. Real Estate Director Sally Orth said the rents are at or below market: $35.14 per square foot at 1290 Fillmore and $26.40 per square foot at 1533 Eddy. Item 8 has an initial annual base rent of approximately $105,138.88 with 3% increases at extension periods; item 9 has an initial annual base rent of $39,600 with 3% annual increases. Both leases have five-year initial terms with two one-year options. The committee forwarded both items (3-0).
• Item 10 – Treasure Island Navy master lease amendment #51: TIDA Executive Director requested approval of a one-year extension of the master lease with the U.S. Navy through November 30, 2027. There is no base rent under the lease, so the extension carries no financial impact. TIDA continues to lease approximately 120 acres from the Navy, and final land transfer is not anticipated before 2035. The committee forwarded the item (3-0).
• Item 11 – Tax-defaulted property auction authorization: Tax Collector David Augustine requested authorization to sell one tax-defaulted property at public auction. The property has been tax-defaulted since July 2021, reached five-year power-to-sell status in July 2026, has a balance owed of approximately $329,000, and a minimum bid of $500,000. Augustine noted alleged fraudulent deeds recorded against the property and said all recent title and lien holders would be notified, with excess proceeds held for the legitimate owner. The chair offered a non-substantive amendment adding the address 250 32nd Avenue, Assessor’s Parcel Block 1391, Lot 014, and the file number to the resolution. The committee forwarded the item as amended (3-0).
• Item 12 – Small hardware retailer gross receipts tax credit: Grace Wang, legislative aide to Board President Mandelman, presented an ordinance providing a gross receipts tax credit for small independent hardware retailers retroactive to January 1, 2026, for tax years 2026 through 2035. To qualify, a business must receive more than 50% of combined gross receipts from qualifying hardware products and have less than $50 million in combined gross receipts from all sources. City Chief Economist Ted Egan said the Controller’s Office determined the measure would have no economic impact and therefore did not file an economic impact report. Chair Dorsey expressed support and asked to be added as a co-sponsor. The committee forwarded the item (3-0).

Key Outcomes

• All 12 agenda items were forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with positive recommendations.
• The committee voted to excuse Supervisor Sauter until his arrival; he later joined and voted on items 7 through 12.
• Item 2 was amended to adopt the BLA-recommended not-to-exceed amount of $98,110,172.
• Item 11 was amended to include the property address, Assessor’s Parcel Block 1391, Lot 014, and the file number.
• Roll call votes were unanimous: items 1 through 6 passed 2-0, and items 7 through 12 passed 3-0.