San Bernardino council directs staff to pursue county aid, regional partners and study Palm Field to close SB Hope navigation center funding gap

San Bernardino ' The City of San Bernardino's mayor and city council voted unanimously Wednesday to direct staff to pursue multiple options to close an estimated funding shortfall for the SB Hope navigation campus, a city-backed navigation center intended to add significant interim shelter capacity.

Cassandra, the city's deputy director of homelessness and housing, told the council the project has a roughly $35 million construction price tag and that pending county participation could cover about $11 million of the gap. Trina Perez, the housing division manager, summarized the immediate shortfall as "approximately $11,000,000," while staff and councilors discussed a total funding gap figure in the low-to-mid tens of millions depending on pending awards and final bids.

Why it matters: the SB Hope campus is designed to add hundreds of interim shelter beds and wraparound services in a system staff said already contains many layered funding sources and regulatory covenants. Staff warned the city faces exposure if it carries full operating and capital responsibility alone, and officials said they want to preserve bed prioritization for San Bernardino residents while reducing fiscal risk.

What the council asked staff to do: the motion approved Wednesday instructs staff to (1) pursue negotiations with San Bernardino County for a proposed contribution and identify any remaining gap; (2) negotiate a regional cost-sharing memorandum of understanding with neighboring jurisdictions so partner cities can purchase guaranteed bed allocations at set annual rates; and (3) study options for the adjacent 13-acre Palm Field property (including consultant analysis or an internal study) to identify long-term housing uses or other deployment that support stability. The motion was seconded and passed by recorded voice vote with all members voting yes.

Costs and assumptions: staff outlined startup and operating forecasts supplied by the selected lead operator, Helping Hearts. Staff said initial startup costs total about $1,644,495 and that first-year city exposure including reserves could reach roughly $2,395,075. City staff presented a wide operating range depending on reimbursements from Medi-Cal and CalAIM: a low-case net city cost of about $300,000 annually if assumed reimbursements materialize, up to roughly $1,638,004.29 in higher-exposure scenarios; phase'two full operations for 200 beds could approach $3.3 million annually if reimbursements fall short.

Staff cautioned the council that some grant sources (for example Homekey funds) carry long covenants attached to the property and that PLHA (planned local housing allocation) is generally capital-oriented and not a reliable perpetual operating subsidy.

Regional option and alternatives: staff presented a sample regional model that would allocate beds and fix annual per-jurisdiction contributions by agreement, and they said neighboring cities (Redlands, Colton, Highland, and Loma Linda) had expressed varying levels of interest. Staff also outlined alternatives including completing construction and selling or leasing the campus to the county to reduce city exposure, acknowledging legal and compliance implications tied to stacked funding sources.

Next steps: staff were directed to return with a detailed package that clarifies the county contribution question, identifies the remaining dollar gap, models regional MOU structures and bed allocations, and provides legal/contractual implications for sale or transfer options. The council's vote was unanimous.