For a bipartisan analysis of San Francisco voting policies for the November 5, 2024 election, see the November 2024 SF Voter Guide. That ballot includes the following policies:
Proposition B would include infrastructure improvements such as renovating medical facilities, creating homeless shelters, repaving roads and renovating Harvey Milk Plaza, the Castro District spot honoring the city’s first openly gay coach. It would borrow up to $390 million from the city of San Francisco to carry out other projects. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978.
support
Mayor London Breed and the entire Board of Supervisors support the bond measure, which official proponents claim is described as a “significant investment” in public health and safety infrastructure. .
Other supporters include a number of local organizations, including the NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, Self-Help for Seniors, and the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. State Sen. Scott Wiener supports the bill, as do the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, and other political groups.
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Fee
If voters pass Prop. B, the city of San Francisco could sell general obligation bonds to investors and use the money for civic projects. The city will repay bondholders with interest.
If all the bonds are issued and sold, the projected repayments would total $737 million, according to a city administration analysis. The city would finance the repayments with an estimated $6.90 in property tax revenue per $100,000 of assessed property value.
Proposition B does not increase overall property taxes. Once bondholders have been repaid in full, the tax associated with the previous bond measure will be replaced when it expires. Additionally, landlords can pass on half of the tax cost to tenants in the form of rent increases.
Opposition
The San Francisco Briones Association, a Republican group, opposes Proposition B. In its public argument against the bill, the group argues that the city should use existing revenue to address issues such as homelessness, rather than “burdening taxpayers with additional debt.” There is. Up to about 13% of maximum bond proceeds would go toward renovating or acquiring homeless shelters.
The San Francisco Apartment Association, which represents landlords and property owners, also opposes Proposition B. The group hopes the new bond measures will lower property taxes, rather than flatten them, the group said in paid arguments.
what would it do
Most of Prop. B’s bond proceeds will fund improvements to health care facilities and will be divided roughly evenly between community health centers and hospitals.
If the general obligation bond sale generates the maximum anticipated proceeds, approximately $71 million would be paid for renovations to the Chinatown Public Health Center. The center primarily serves low-income, uninsured, elderly and recent Asian immigrants in a language they understand. This will cover ventilation system upgrades and enable on-site mental health services. It will also fund the facility’s first major seismic retrofit since it was built more than half a century ago. The center is one of the most earthquake-vulnerable clinics in San Francisco. During construction, services will be relocated to Chinese Hospital, approximately two blocks away.
Additionally, $29 million will be used to acquire land for a new City Clinic, which will provide treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases to young people and low-income residents.
Two hospitals, Laguna Honda, which provides medical and rehabilitation services, and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, which provides 20% of the city’s inpatient care, will undergo critical repairs and renovations, including upgrades to fire protection equipment. In total, they will receive $56 million. The facility will also receive $40 million in seismic retrofit costs. At Zuckerberg Hospital, the money will be used to expand mental health services.
The remainder of the bond proceeds will fund various other projects.
$71 million will be paid for public space improvements. $41 million of that will help revitalize downtown by improving pedestrian areas and transportation access near Powell and Market streets. Approximately $25 million will be spent on Harvey Milk Plaza to improve accessibility for people with disabilities, renovate elevators at the Castro Muni subway station, and add amenities and landscaping. The remaining $5 million will go toward infrastructure and recreational space improvements in public parks.
Approximately $64 million will be paid to update traffic signs, redesign highways and sidewalks, repave roads and add street lighting.
Finally, the city will spend $50 million to acquire, build and improve shelters for people experiencing homelessness.
The oversight board was to hold annual public hearings on the implementation of the fund and report expenditures to the mayor and board of supervisors.
campaign funds
As of Oct. 7, the Yes on B campaign committee had raised $624,544, according to data from the San Francisco Ethics Commission. Donors also include medical institutions, with the largest support of $100,000 coming from the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, which supports and funds Zuckerberg Hospital. They each received a $50,000 donation from Sutter Health, a nonprofit health care provider in California. Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc., real estate broker. Diane Wilsey is a major Republican donor and owner and CEO of A. Wilsey Properties.
The “No to B” campaign committee raised $172,000. The main donor was the San Francisco Apartment Association Political Action Committee, which donated $50,000.
History and background
Over the past decade, San Francisco voters have approved three bond measures focused on strengthening public health facilities, including renovating aging buildings.
Proposition B does not address many of the currently needed medical facility and infrastructure improvements listed in the city’s latest 10-year capital plan adopted last year. Prop. B designers excluded renovations to the Silver Avenue Family Health Center in the southeastern part of the city from the measure’s funding goal because its cost projections were higher than originally anticipated, the city said. Officials explained this at a public meeting in June.
The bill originally omitted relocating the city clinic, but the drafters included it after protests from local residents.
A vote is required for approval
As a bond measure, Proposition B would require at least a 66.67% “yes” vote to pass.
But if voters approve California’s Proposition 5, which lowers the threshold for passing housing and infrastructure bonds this November, Prop. B would pass with only a 55% “yes” vote.
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