Budget committee backs four bond sales totaling $489.5 million, forwards measures to full Board

SAN FRANCISCO — The Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee voted unanimously on Oct. 6 to forward four bond-sale resolutions to the full board, recommending issuance of a combined $489.5 million in debt to finance affordable-housing construction and preservation, seismic safety renovations and public-health and safety projects.

Chair Sandra Lee Fewer moved the committee report recommending approval of items 1–4, and the committee recorded three ayes. The measures now go to the full Board of Supervisors for final action.

City staff and analysts outlined how the proceeds would be used and the likely cost to taxpayers. Jonah Lee, director of portfolio management and preservation, described a proposed “2020 F” issuance of up to $102.6 million for the Preservation and Seismic Safety (PASS) program, saying the funds would finance seismic retrofits, acquisitions and rehabilitations aimed at preserving affordable housing. “This flexibility is critical to a financing execution that will provide the lowest cost of capital to fund the PASS program,” Lee said, urging the committee’s positive recommendation.

Raleigh Katapang of the Mayor’s Office of Community Development presented the first issuance of the 2019 Affordable Housing bond series, asking approval for program funds of roughly $253 million in the first issuance and outlining allocations to public housing, low-income housing, preservation and middle-income units, senior housing and educator housing. Katapang estimated the Sunnydale allocation would produce nearly 300 public-housing units and said the first issuance would support more than 500 units across roughly 34 projects.

Joe Chin, a Public Works program manager, asked the committee to authorize the third and final sale of the 2016 Public Health and Safety (PHS) bond program, not to exceed $126.925 million, to fund remaining components across the Department of Public Health, the Fire Department and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Chin provided project updates, including construction activity at community health centers and work on neighborhood fire-station scopes.

Vishal Trivedi from the Office of Public Finance summarized financing parameters and taxpayer impacts under the assumed offering scenarios. For the PASS issuance, Trivedi said the estimated blended interest rate would be about 3.51%; the resulting annual debt service and lifetime interest were presented as estimates. He outlined homeowner impacts per $100,000 of assessed value: for example, one series’ impact was estimated to range from roughly $0.03 to $1.67 per $100,000 over a 40-year term; the 2019 affordable-housing sale was estimated at about $4.54 per $100,000 over an anticipated 30-year term; and the public-health-and-safety sale was estimated at about $2.77 per $100,000 over a 20-year term.

The Budget and Legislative Analyst’s report, delivered by Nick Menard, totaled the proposed sales at $489.5 million and estimated combined annual debt service of roughly $26.7 million, recovered through increases to the city property-tax rate; the BLA recommended approval of the resolutions.

There were no callers for public comment on the items. After questions and brief clarifying remarks from staff, Chair Fewer moved the measure and the committee recommended items 1–4 to the full board as a committee report.

The next step is consideration by the full Board of Supervisors at its meeting as scheduled; the committee did not take final binding action to sell the bonds at the Oct. 6 session.