Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Naming And Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisor Campos cites budget analysts who estimate far lower costs to add Harvey Milk’s name to SFO than airport estimate
Summary
Supervisor David Campos cited a Budget and Legislative Analyst review that found adding Harvey Milk's name to San Francisco International Airport could cost far less than the airport's $4.1 million estimate, and said the city can limit the expense to roughly $500,000 drawn from airport revenue.
Supervisor David Campos told the board he has asked the Budget and Legislative Analyst for an independent review of cost estimates to add Harvey Milk's name to San Francisco International Airport and said that review found a much lower baseline cost than the airport's estimate.
Campos said the airport estimated $4,100,000 to attach Harvey Milk's name, but the Budget and Legislative Analyst found baseline costs could be "as little as $355,000." Campos said the airport's higher estimate included costs — notably for changing state highway signage — that in many cases would be borne by other agencies such as Caltrans, and that the airport did not seek Caltrans' input before making its estimate.
Campos cited a specific difference in the per-sign cost estimate: he said Caltrans provided a cost figure of $20,000 per sign, compared with a $120,000 per-sign figure included in the airport's estimate. Campos said the airport's Caltrans-related figures were overestimated by about $2.5 million.
He emphasized that any costs to rename the airport would be charged to the airport's revenue budget and not the city's General Fund and said the board's objective is to minimize the cost — he stated a target of no more than $500,000, which he said matched the Budget and Legislative Analyst's report. "Our goal and objective here is to make sure that the cost is no more than $500,000," Campos said.
Why it matters: The proposal to add Harvey Milk's name to the airport has been a high-visibility item in San Francisco. Cost estimates and the source of funds affect the political feasibility and timing of any renaming.
Next steps: Campos said he had asked the Budget and Legislative Analyst to provide a separate review and that the board will use that information to guide further discussion; no final vote or directive to implement renaming appeared on Tuesday's calendar.
Ending: Campos asked colleagues to separate substantive policy judgments from cost questions, saying the numbers show the expense can be limited. "If there are reasons to support or oppose, they should be disconnected from that issue because we have a great deal of control and we have the ability to minimize the cost," he said.
