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Committee hears $3 billion SFO revenue bond request; BLA amendment accepted and item continued for further review
Summary
The committee received a presentation on a request for up to $3 billion in new San Francisco International Airport revenue bonds and related appropriations for airport capital projects; the Budget Analyst recommended language changes and the Chair moved to accept the amendment and continue the item for one week.
Clerk read two items requesting authority for San Francisco International Airport to issue up to $3,000,000,000 in new revenue bonds and to appropriate approximately $3,800,000,000 in proceeds (including previously authorized but unissued bonds) to fund elements of the airport capital improvement plan.
Kathy Widener of the Airport summarized major projects to be funded by the issuance: the new Harvey Milk Terminal 1, a new Concourse 3 connector, the remainder of the Boarding Area B redevelopment, Terminal 3 West modernization and an AirTrain extension, as well as infrastructure work such as power-supply upgrades, wastewater improvements and expanded noise insulation. Widener said debt service would be paid from airport concession and parking revenues and airline charges, and stressed that the city’s general fund would not be liable for airport debt.
The Budget Analyst’s Office presented supporting exhibits and recommended an amendment: that the airport director submit the final official statement for each bond issuance to the Clerk and include those documents in the legislative file. The BLA highlighted projected debt-service increases from roughly $450 million in 2019 to more than $800 million in 2025 under the issuance scenario and showed projected net revenue growth assumptions used in the analysis.
Chair Sandra Lee Feuer said there had been a request to continue the items for one week; after discussion she moved to accept the BLA amendments and continue the item as amended to the next budget meeting. The airport and BLA said they could return next week to answer further questions about debt management if requested.
The committee agreed to accept the amendment and continue the items for further review; the presentation and the BLA’s figures will be available in the legislative file for the next hearing.
