Budget and Finance Committee advances contracts, housing and public-health funding to full Board

The San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee on an uncontested voice vote sent seven items to the full Board of Supervisors with positive recommendations, including multi-year public-utilities contracts, behavioral-health provider funding, a state housing grant application, a bond inducement for rehabilitation at 711 Eddy Street, federal HIV program applications, and a vendor-managed inventory contract for the municipal rail fleet.

Chair Supervisor Malia Cohen opened the meeting and guided the committee through seven docket items that the clerk said will appear on the Board agenda on October 16. The committee took each item up in order and, after brief presentations, moved each forward without recorded objection.

On Item 1, Tim Ramirez, division manager for natural resources and lands management at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, asked the committee to authorize multiple contracts “to supplement our staff to conduct work primarily on the watershed lands that the city owns outside of San Francisco.” The contracts are each capped at $14,000,000 for terms not to exceed 10 years (01/01/2019–01/01/2029); the budget analyst noted the three contracts add up to $42,000,000 over 10 years and recommended approval.

On Item 2, the Department of Public Health sought approval of a contract with Family Service Agency for behavioral-health services for children and families, a four-year agreement retroactive to 07/01/2018 with a total not to exceed approximately $36,500,000 and a possible five-year extension. Michelle Ruggles (DPH) described program monitoring and said the provider “demonstrated outstanding performance” in the most recent completed year. A public commenter urged coupling services with permanent housing for the city’s lowest-income clients; staff and the budget analyst confirmed the contract’s funding comes from a mix of state and local general-fund sources.

Item 3 asked the committee to authorize the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to apply for No Place Like Home funds under an alternative county designation. Amy Chan (MOHCD) said the statewide No Place Like Home pool is about $190,000,000 and that San Francisco expects an allocation of roughly $100,000,000. Chan noted HCD issued new required language referencing state code and asked the committee to accept non-substantive amendments to ensure the application complies with state requirements. A public commenter raised concerns that area median income (AMI) targeting can exclude SSI recipients and other very-low-income residents from qualifying for newly built affordable units.

Item 4 was a TEFRA inducement resolution for a rehabilitation project at 711 Eddy Street (Eastern Park). Chan said Northern California Presbyterian Homes & Services will acquire and rehab 202 units; 10% of units would serve households up to 50% of AMI and the remainder up to 60% of AMI. The resolution authorizes MOHCD to seek a residential mortgage revenue bond allocation not to exceed $95,000,000; Chan said conduit financing would not require the city to pledge funds for repayment. A public commenter called the income targeting discriminatory and said the thresholds exclude the most vulnerable; no formal change to the proposal was recorded.

Items 5 and 6 grouped two public-health grant applications. DPH staff sought (Item 5) CDC integrated HIV surveillance and prevention funding of about $7,000,000 for calendar 2019 and (Item 6) HRSA Ryan White Part A funding totaling about $16,202,223 for the 2019 funding year. Bill Blum and colleagues said San Francisco has applied for Ryan White Part A funds for roughly 30 years; Blum said there are over 15,000 people living with HIV in San Francisco and that the city often must backfill federal cuts. Staff and the budget office said they work closely each year to anticipate and, when needed, plan for local backfill.

Item 7 was a resolution approving an SFMTA contract with Alstom Transportation for vendor-managed inventory services for rail-fleet maintenance. John Haley (SFMTA) said the five-year pilot reduced parts cannibalization, improved planning and forecasting and increased car availability by about 20%. The requested contract is a three-year initial term with two two-year options (up to seven years) with a three-year budget shown as $62,400,000 and an upper-not-to-exceed amount described by staff as approximately $64.5 million; the budget analyst recommended approval.

Each item was approved by the committee and forwarded to the full Board with a positive recommendation; chair Cohen took the motions without objection. The committee adjourned following the seven items. The items will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda as noted by the clerk.