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Board recommends SFPUC bond package with BLA amendment demanding clearer bond reporting
Summary
The committee recommended approval of six SFPUC capital appropriations and bond authorizations (Hetch Hetchy, water and wastewater enterprise bonds), adding a Budget Legislative Analyst amendment requiring the SFPUC general manager to report on total authorized, sold and unsold bond authority for transparency.
The committee recommended approvals for a multi‑enterprise SFPUC capital package and associated bond authorizations, and added a BLA amendment ordering a written report to improve board oversight of previously authorized but unsold bond authority.
SFPUC CFO Eric Sandler summarized the two‑year capital program: an appropriation for Hetch Hetchy power projects (approx. $350 million), a water enterprise capital program (approx. $483 million) and a wastewater program (primarily SSIP Phase 1 and other replacement projects, approx. $1.2 billion). The proposals included bond‑authority ordinances and the option to issue revenue bonds or other indebtedness for each enterprise.
The BLA walked the committee through estimated rate impacts (small bill increases of a few dollars per year for an average residential combined bill) and advised the board that Proposition E grants the board authority to approve such revenue bonds without a cap. BLA recommended an amendment: require the SFPUC general manager, as part of the two‑year budget review, to provide a written report detailing total bond authorizations previously approved, amounts sold, and any authorizations no longer needed due to project or financing changes. BLA argued the amendment would give the board fuller information about outstanding and unsold authorizations before approving new bond authority.
The SFPUC CFO supported the recommendation. The committee adopted the BLA amendments to items 11–13 and recommended items 8–13 (appropriations and bond authorizations), without objection.
Next steps: the amendments call for the SFPUC general manager to provide a written accounting of prior bond authorizations and sales in the two‑year budget report to the Board of Supervisors.
