Budget and Finance Committee forwards most items to full board; key approvals include $15.5M LRV brake overhaul and $8M Prop 47 grant

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on June 4 voted to forward most agenda items to the full Board, continued two items to later dates and approved or amended several funding and contracting actions.

The most consequential actions were the committee’s approval to forward a sole-source contract for the overhaul of light-rail vehicle (LRV) brake systems and the acceptance and expenditure of approximately $8 million in Proposition 47 grant funds for a new program called HEARTS (Housing, Expungement and Recovery through Treatment and Support Services). The committee also agreed to a 14-year lease for an airport DC fast-charging hub and advanced multiple smaller leases, grants and gifts to the full Board with positive recommendations.

Why it matters: The LRV brake contract is tied to the city’s effort to keep new Siemens-built LRVs operating reliably and to preserve warranty and corrective-action leverage. The Prop 47 grant would fund a city-led, multiagency program aimed at reducing incarceration and recidivism among justice-involved adults experiencing homelessness. Both carry programmatic and budgetary implications for city operations.

Key approvals and outcomes (votes at a glance)

1) Ordinance to revise procurement and administrative-code procurement thresholds (Item 1) - Action: Continued to July 9, 2025. - Details: The ordinance would amend administrative code chapters (including chapters cited as 12f, 12j and 12l) and related labor and employment code articles to update thresholds, reorganize provisions, repeal obsolete provisions and sunset several existing ordinances. A continuance was requested by the sponsor to allow further stakeholder conversations, including labor concerns about removing the sweat-free procurement advisory group. - Vote: Continued (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

2) Airport lease for DC fast-charging hub with SkyCharger LLC (Item 2) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Lease at San Francisco International Airport for a direct-current fast-charging hub on South McDonough Road (adjacent to rideshare holding lot). Proposed development cost by the tenant: $11,850,000; site to include 24 electrified parking spaces; minimum annual guarantee $190,000 for first year; 14-year term with one 2-year option. Pricing to public not yet established. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

3) San Francisco Irish Famine Memorial grants to Recreation and Park (Item 3) - Action: Continued to September 24, 2025 at the department’s request. - Details: Resolution would authorize Rec and Park to accept and expend approximately $500,000 from the San Francisco Irish Famine Memorial Committee. Rec and Park said the project sponsors requested additional time to complete administrative items. - Vote: Continued (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

4) SFMTA contract: Phase 1 LRV-4 brake system overhaul with Wabtec Passenger Transit (Item 4) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Sole-source contract not to exceed $15,500,000 for overhaul of brake system components on 68 Phase-1 LRV-4 vehicles; roughly an 18-month schedule (about one vehicle per week). SFMTA said combining overhaul work with warranty corrective actions improves enforceability of vendor warranties and yields no-cost shipping, rework to original manufacturer standards in Duncan, South Carolina, and a nonstandard three-year warranty on the overhauled parts. SFMTA emphasized these are corrective and reliability actions, not safety failures: “There’s no safety related concerns,” said Joe Speaks, project manager with SFMTA. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

5) Port lease for restaurant at 340 Jefferson Street (Item 5) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: 10‑year lease (three‑thousand seven-hundred square feet) with 3 40 Jefferson Street Partners LLC for a seafood-forward Salvadoran concept called Chaska Rio; estimated $1.5 million in revenue over 10 years; Port contributed $470,000 for tenant improvements funded through federal/state recovery funds; base rent about $10,000/month plus percentage rent above threshold; early termination right if sales thresholds not met. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

6) Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing: accept Prop 47 Cohort 4 grant (Item 6) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Retroactive grant agreement with the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) for approximately $8,000,000, term Oct. 3, 2024–June 30, 2028, to support HEARTS (housing, expungement and behavioral health supports for justice-involved adults experiencing homelessness). HSH will finalize program composition with partner agencies (DPH, Sheriff, Public Defender) and expected to report back to the Board by fall 2025 with implementation details. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

7) TEFRA resolution for Sequoia San Francisco financing (Item 7) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: TEFRA/IR C‑related approval for tax-exempt obligations issued by California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA). The larger financing authority is up to $165,000,000 across multiple counties; San Francisco’s portion relates to up to $60,000,000 for Sequoia San Francisco (senior residential and care services at 1400 Geary Blvd.). Committee noted the action imposes no fiscal obligation on the city. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

8) Adult Probation: second amendment to UCSF CASC grant agreement (Item 8) - Action: Amended per Budget & Legislative Analyst recommendation and forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Amendment extends the grant term through June 30, 2027 and increases the not‑to‑exceed amount; the committee accepted the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s recommendation to reduce the administration’s requested cap to $17,100,000 (from $17,800,000) based on historic underspending and the department’s confirmation that staffing will require the revised amount. - Vote: Amended and forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

9) Department of Public Health: CalAIM capacity building incentive payment (CBIP) grant (Item 9) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Retroactive acceptance and expenditure of $265,000 from the California Department of Health Care Services, distributed through Blue Cross of California Partnership Plan (Anthem) for trauma-informed outreach and BEST Neighborhood teams. Staff explained the award notice timing and the subsequent internal approvals required for retroactive acceptance. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

10–11) Department of Public Health: two monetary gifts from Epic Systems Corporation (Items 10 & 11) - Action: Both retroactive gifts forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Item 10 — $37,500 to support a community resource directory/behavioral health project; Item 11 — $37,000 to support a vocational-rehab internship program with Richmond Area Multi-Services (RAMS). DPH noted both gifts were delayed by legal/ethics review because Epic is an existing city vendor. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

12) Department of Public Health: gift from San Francisco Public Health Foundation (Item 12) - Action: Forwarded to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Retroactive acceptance and expenditure of approximately $1,700,000 to support primary care, maternal and child health, behavioral health, Laguna Honda and other DPH programs for FY 2024–25, including items such as dental supplies, a mobile x‑ray for Southeast Family Health Center, food support and client-assistance items. DPH described an annual “needs assessment” process with the Foundation and said the department is changing internal timing to reduce future retroactivity. - Vote: Forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

13) Ordinance authorizing the Clerk of the Board to sell licenses to third parties for legislative management software and establishing a fund (Item 13) - Action: Committee adopted an amendment (removing a reference to the fund as a “category 8 fund”) and forwarded the ordinance to full Board with positive recommendation. - Details: Clerks’ office seeks to license the legislative-management software it developed and to establish a legislative management system fund to receive license revenue and interdepartmental transfers; amendment agreed with Controller’s office and City Attorney’s office. - Vote: Amended and forwarded (Dorsey/yes; Joan Gardio/yes; Chair Connie Chan/yes).

What committee members and staff said

- Joe Speaks, project manager, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency: on the brake overhaul work, he told the committee, “There’s no safety related concerns,” and said the overhaul is aimed at meeting contractual reliability targets and preserving warranty enforcement while combining corrective actions to reduce cost and downtime.

- Daniel Tsang, San Francisco International Airport: on the SkyCharger lease he described the site as a conversion from a Trillium compressed natural gas station to 24 electrified parking stalls; tenant development costs were estimated at $11,850,000 and the airport anticipates receiving at least $2,660,000 in minimum guarantees over the lease term.

- Emily Cohen, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing: described the Prop 47 Cohort 4 HEARTS program as a multiagency effort that will include housing assessment and services, case management, peer navigation, behavioral health treatment and legal services; HSH said it expects to finalize program details and report back by fall 2025.

Notable procedural and follow-up items

- Several items were retroactive acceptances of grants or gifts because notice of awards arrived after program start dates and then required legal and controller approval. Committee members repeatedly requested clearer timing and earlier notice for future budget cycles.

- The committee accepted the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s recommendation on Item 8 to lower the not-to-exceed amendment for the UCSF probation grant to $17,100,000 based on prior underspending and staffing realities.

- Recreation and Park requested and received a continuance on the Irish Famine Memorial grant to Sept. 24, 2025; Rec and Park said the project sponsor asked for additional time to complete administrative items.

Next steps

All items forwarded to the full Board will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda (unless otherwise stated) for final action. Rec and Park’s Irish Famine Memorial item will return to the Budget & Finance Committee on Sept. 24, 2025; Item 1 (procurement code ordinance) was continued to July 9, 2025.

Speakers (selected)

- Connie Chan, Chair, Budget & Finance Committee (Supervisor) - Matt Dorsey, Vice Chair, Budget & Finance Committee (Supervisor) - Joan Gardio, Member, Budget & Finance Committee (Supervisor) - Brent Halepa, Committee Clerk - Daniel Tsang, San Francisco International Airport (presenter) - Joe Speaks, SFMTA (project manager) - John Crispin, Wabtec Passenger Transit (vendor representative) - Emily Cohen, Department of Homelessness & Supportive Housing - Alex Boyter, San Francisco Health Network (DPH) - Jeff Scarfia, Deputy CIO, Department of Public Health - Carol Toniguchi, Deputy Director of Primary Care, DPH - Scott Lancel and Don Kavanaugh, Port of San Francisco - Lamont Bishop, Recreation & Park (policy/public affairs) - Dr. Edward Diasos, CFO, Office of the Clerk of the Board

Ending: The committee completed its business and adjourned; items forwarded will be considered at the full Board and the committee set two date-certain continuances for July 9 and Sept. 24, 2025.