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Committee advances $39.14M seismic-retrofit geobond for soft‑story buildings to full board
Summary
The committee voted to send a measure to the full Board proposing a $39,140,000 general-obligation bond to fund deferred loan and grant support for seismic retrofits of soft‑story apartment buildings (about 156 buildings and 8,000+ units); a Budget Analyst amendment would cap loans by a building’s affordable-unit share.
The Budget & Finance Committee on July 1 advanced an ordinance that would send a $39,140,000 general-obligation bond to the Nov. 2, 2010 ballot to fund seismic retrofits for soft‑story buildings across San Francisco.
Jason Elliott of the mayor’s office described the measure as the companion ordinance to a Board resolution and said the proposed program would operate as a deferred loan and grant program for eligible structures — a set that the mayor’s office estimates includes 156 buildings comprising more than 8,000 housing units across the city. Elliott said two conforming amendments are needed: one to clarify the ordinance language to match the companion resolution’s description of deferred loans and grants, and a second to ensure tenant pass-through handling conforms to the Administrative Code.
Budget Analyst Nate Cruz recommended a third amendment to ensure that where a building contains both affordable and market-rate units, the maximum loan amount for the building be proportionate to the share of affordable housing units (the cap would equal the proportion of the building that is affordable housing times the total retrofit cost). The committee accepted the recommendation and moved the ordinance to the full Board for first reading on July 13 (the Board must conduct two readings for bond measures); the chair noted the measure could be held as the single late measure for a July 20 reading if needed but that only one late measure is allowed by charter timelines.
President Chu and several supervisors discussed ballot timing and whether the geobond should compete with other measures on a crowded ballot. The chair wrote the amendments into the committee recommendation; the Board will consider the ordinance and amendments at its July reading.
Next steps: the ordinance will be placed on the Board calendar for ordinance first reading (deadline noted as July 13) and the committee’s recommended amendments will be incorporated at the Board hearing before further action.
