Committee adopts clarifying amendment and forwards $146.8 million COP appropriation for affordable housing to full Board

The Budget and Appropriations Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on July 13 unanimously adopted a clarifying amendment and voted to forward an ordinance appropriating certificates of participation (COPs) proceeds totaling $146.8 million to the full Board with a positive recommendation.

Supervisor Hillary Ronan, chair of the committee, presided over the meeting. The ordinance would place $112,000,000 of COP proceeds with the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development for a Notice of Funding Availability prioritizing land acquisition for 100% affordable developments, repairs for public housing and federal housing co-ops, affordable housing for educators, elevators in the city’s single-room-occupancy (SRO) portfolio, and acquisition for nonprofit sites. An additional $34,800,000 was identified for associated financing costs; the BLA (Budget and Legislative Analyst) summarized the total appropriation as $146,800,000 and said the ordinance places the funds in reserve pending sale of certificates.

The BLA told the committee the ordinance does not itself authorize issuance of new debt; a separate Board action after capital-planning review will be required to issue COPs. The BLA provided a…