The South San Francisco City Council backed a community facilities district east of Highway 101, meaning, the area’s property owners — many of them life science firms — will likely decide over the coming months whether to approve the additional taxes to fund certain improvements.
Discussions to form a CFD, or a designated area that agrees to pay a special form of tax on their properties in exchange for the construction of certain infrastructure projects, have surfaced on and off for several years.
The effort is seeing renewed enthusiasm, given the area’s road deterioration and a near doubling of estimated employee growth by 2040. The CFD would fund a handful of top-priority projects, such as the repaving of 17 miles of streets and adding or improving numerous bus, bike and pedestrian lanes.
The area is not exclusive to biotech, but it does house some of the industry’s largest employers, including Genentech. A two-thirds majority of voters would need to approve the special tax.
City staff confirmed they’ve met with many of the property and business owners, but have still not heard from about one-third of the potential voting bloc, and the likelihood of passage remains uncertain.
If it doesn’t pass, the chances of robust infrastructure improvements over the next several years is slim. Principal Engineer Matt Ruble said the city receives a limited amount of pavement funding, but that amount is intended for the entire jurisdiction.
“Each year, we have about $4 [million] to $6 million worth of total funding that is available for this use. So, given that limited funding availability, we are stretching it as far as we can, and the road repair needs east of 101 are just expensive,” Ruble said. “They’re a heavily industrial use, the soils are built on Bay fill, so it requires more substantial repairs underneath the roadway. … As we do repairs out there, it just eats more and more into our budget.”
The formation of the CFD would impose an annual tax based on the square footage of developed property and the type of business. Life science buildings could pay up to 65 cents per square foot, with residential buildings paying up to 25 cents. An estimated $118 million would be raised over 30 years, which would cover a majority of the $150 million to $180 million of funds needed for all the listed projects.
The 44-acre Oyster Point district, the nearby area east of the freeway, passed a similar initiative several years ago, as the sole property owner, Kilroy Realty, sought swifter improvement projects.
The City Council will hold another meeting within 90 days to start the ballot process.
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