OCII presents $422.2 million ROPS 2020–21 request focusing on debt service and affordable-housing loans

Mina Yoo, financial reporting and management analyst for the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), told the commission on Jan. 21 that OCII’s Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS) request for July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021 totals $422.2 million. The request is mainly for debt-service payments and affordable-housing gap and predevelopment loans for OCII project areas.

"Our total request for 2021 is $422.2 million," Yoo said, describing five funding sources that make up the request: bond proceeds; reserve funds (including prior-year property-tax increment); other funds (developer payments and grants); Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund (RPTTF) non-admin; and RPTTF admin. Yoo said the ROPS request represents a $23.6 million decrease from the prior year, driven largely by spending down bond proceeds and a reduced pledge of RPTTF non-admin for housing because several 2021 projects are fully funded.

Annie Wong, development specialist on OCII’s affordable-housing team, outlined the housing portion of the request: about $110 million in funding authority, primarily $95.3 million in bond proceeds, intended to support gap loans and predevelopment activity across the three project areas. Wong identified the two largest housing line items as a $50.0 million predevelopment/gap loan allocation for Hunters Point Shipyard Block 5254 (described in the presentation as a 100% affordable, 112-unit rental project) and a $38.9 million gap loan for Mission Bay South Block 9 (a 141-unit affordable rental project for formerly homeless adults). Wong listed smaller predevelopment and gap loans for Transbay and additional Mission Bay blocks.

Mission Bay staff said the largest Mission Bay expenditures are infrastructure and bond principal payments, with additional allocations for consultant services to support affordable-housing entitlement increases and a public-art program tied to the city’s 1% development impact fee. Transbay staff requested authority for about $52.4 million of activity in the Transbay area, including $27.6 million in infrastructure spending for the Folsom Street improvement project, design and engineering for Under-Ramp and Transbay Park, and reimbursements required by development agreements. Hunters Point and Candlestick program staff described roughly $17 million in programmatic activity for 2021, largely funded by developer reimbursements and focused on parks, permitting, community-benefits implementation and Navy lease payments.

Yoo summarized systemwide uses: $111.9 million for the bond portfolio (debt service), a $4.5 million hotel-occupancy-tax refunding payment and $1.8 million to replenish the low- and moderate-income housing fund, with an operating budget request of $23.2 million to cover salaries and other administrative costs (54 full-time-equivalent positions, unchanged from the prior year). OCII staff said they are retiring 17 ROPS lines and requested no new lines for 2021. Next steps: the presentation will return to the oversight board for approval the following Monday and OCII will submit the ROPS to the California Department of Finance by Feb. 1.

Commissioners used the workshop to clarify terms and assumptions. Vice Chair Rosales asked whether the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) pledge is a set amount or calculated; Yoo said it is calculated from gross property-tax increment under contractual agreements and can change with the increment. Commissioners also asked whether a proposed $300,000 custom census or study to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) is covered by the ROPS figures; contract compliance supervisor Raymelee said OCII had submitted a work request to OEWD and that OEWD’s initial response favored a meta-analysis using the American Community Survey. Commissioners asked whether budgeted FTE positions were filled; Yoo said the positions are budgeted but not all are filled.

The workshop was informational; no formal action on the ROPS was taken at the meeting. OCII staff requested public feedback and said they will incorporate commission input as they finalize budget packages.