Port seeks $11.5M in harbor fund balance to bridge seawall program amid litigation delay

The Budget and Finance Committee advanced an ordinance appropriating $11.5 million in port harbor fund balance to support the San Francisco Seawall Earthquake Safety and Disaster Prevention Program for fiscal year 2019–20.

Katie Petruccioni, identified in the transcript as the port's chief financial officer, said two San Francisco residents filed litigation challenging Proposition A and that, although a superior court judge dismissed the case on June 18 and litigants filed a notice of appeal on July 18, the port is delaying the sale of the first seawall bond. "To bridge the gap until bonds might be sold, the port is proposing to appropriate available harbor fund balance to support the seawall program through this 19–20 fiscal year," Petruccioni said. She said the appropriation would cover roughly nine months of expenditures for planning, community outreach, preliminary design work, and coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and that the port expects to reimburse the harbor fund from bond proceeds when bonds are sold.

The BLA report noted the port's current fund balance is a little over $14 million and that the appropriation would leave about $4 million in the fund, and recommended approval. The committee moved the appropriation ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation; no committee objections were recorded in the transcript.