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Committee recommends non‑renewal language, amends three Mills Act contracts
Summary
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee amended and recommended three resolutions to notify property owners and the assessor of non‑renewal of Mills Act historic‑property contracts, clarifying notice timing and authorizing the planning director to record notice. The committee forwarded the items to the full Board of Supervisors with recommendation.
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on Sept. 19 recommended approval of amended resolutions to notify property owners and the assessor/recorder of the non‑renewal of three Mills Act historic‑property contracts. Chair Jane Kim said the items — affecting properties at 215 & 229 Haight St., 627 Waller St., and 973 Market St. — were sponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin and called together for consideration.
Shannon Ferguson, senior preservation planner with the Department of Planning, told the committee that Mills Act contracts are ten‑year agreements that automatically add one year to the term on each anniversary unless notice of non‑renewal is served. The program reduces property owners’ property taxes in exchange for required rehabilitation and maintenance work meant to preserve historic properties. Ferguson said the City currently holds 31 active Mills Act contracts and that the planning department recommended limiting the three contracts under review to a 10‑year term to balance preservation incentives with city costs.
Deputy City Attorney John Givner asked the committee to adopt clarifying amendments to correct a factual error in the original resolutions and to specify the notice timeline. Givner said the city must inform property owners 60 days before the annual renewal date — not 90 days as originally drafted — and the amendments also add an explicit clause authorizing the planning director to record a notice following adoption.
Chair Kim moved to amend the resolutions as drafted by the city attorney and the committee adopted the amendments and the recommendation to forward items 1–3 to the full Board of Supervisors as amended, without objection.
The full Board will consider the resolutions; if adopted, property tax treatment for the named parcels will move from Mills Act assessment to fair‑market valuation after the contracts expire. The committee’s action was procedural and did not itself terminate any contracts; it forwarded the amended item with recommendation to the board.
