Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Library Bond topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors Recommend Lease Revenue Bonds to Finish Branch Library Projects
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee voted to send ordinances forward recommending up to about $34.7 million in lease revenue bonds and related appropriations to complete multiple San Francisco branch library projects, while staff said debt service could be covered by an extended library fund or the general fund if voters do not renew funding.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee on the record forwarded ordinances recommending issuance of lease revenue bonds intended to complete the Branch Library Improvement Program.
City Librarian Luis Herrera told the committee the bond authority would fund construction at four branches — the Anza, Merced, Golden Gate Valley and Ortega branches — and cover planning and design for Bayview and North Beach. "The purpose of those revenue bonds is to complete the branch library improvement program," Herrera said during the committee meeting.
Nadia Sissay of the Office of Public Finance said the resolution would authorize a not-to-exceed amount of about $35 million and described a financing structure sized over a 25-year schedule even though the preservation fund term is 15 years. She said the general fund would stand as the security if needed and that estimated annual lease payments would be in the low millions. Sissay also said a sale date was anticipated in January and that the financing corporation expected to approve the issuance next week.
Budget staff emphasized the decision is policy-driven because, should voters not approve any future renewal of the library preservation fund, debt service payments would be paid from limited general fund revenues. The committee's budget analyst noted the board was being asked to accept that policy trade-off when approving the ordinances.
Members heard public support for financing: Donna Barrow of Friends of the Library urged approval and reminded the panel that voters approved Proposition D by roughly 75 percent, saying the program has benefited 24 neighborhoods.
After discussion, the committee adopted the staff amendments and voted to forward the ordinances with a favorable recommendation to the full board for final action. The committee did not record a roll-call vote on the floor during the hearing; the item will appear on the full board agenda with the committee recommendation.
What happens next: the ordinances will be scheduled for consideration by the full Board of Supervisors; staff said financing timing anticipates a bond-sale process beginning in January.
