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Port officials warn of roughly $1 billion capital backlog, outline projects and one-time surplus
Summary
Port deputy director Elaine Forbes told the Budget & Finance Committee the Port of San Francisco faces about $1 billion in unfunded repairs over the next decade, reported a nearly $20 million one-time surplus this year, and previewed projects including Pier 31, Pier 38 and the James R. Herman cruise terminal.
Port of San Francisco officials on Wednesday told the Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee that the agency is operating within its fixed two-year budget but faces a substantial capital shortfall over the coming decade.
Elaine Forbes, deputy director of finance and administration for the Port, said the Port operates as a self-supporting enterprise with an operating budget of about $100 million. She said the Port’s largest revenue source is real estate leasing (about 51 percent), followed by parking (about 25 percent). Forbes reported nearly $20 million in one-time revenues this year from items such as a PG&E prepayment and settlement proceeds, which the Port plans to designate for capital projects in the fall.
"We have $1,000,000,000 of unfunded repair in the next 10 years," Forbes told the committee, describing both backlog and state-of-good-repair spending that current projections do not cover. She outlined a 10-year capital plan that prioritizes projects expected to generate revenue and highlighted recent investments: the $115 million James R. Herman cruise terminal (financed primarily by Port debt and a land sale), rehabilitation of historic Pier 31 (about $6 million in work to generate an estimated $750,000 in revenue), and a planned small-scale bulkhead rehabilitation at Pier 38 (about $12 million).
Forbes also noted the Port’s participation in city financing tools, such as inclusion in the parks general-obligation bond program and short-term financing mechanisms, and emphasized collaboration with the mayor’s office and the capital planning committee on seawall and sea-level-rise strategies. She said the Port is negotiating with the National Park Service to retain the Alcatraz ferry landing at the Port’s preferred 31st Street location but that discussions remain focused on business terms, in particular whether the Port should assume capital obligations for a new facility.
Committee members thanked Port staff for the update and moved to file the report for the record without objection.
