South San Francisco adds air quality assessment, VLF outreach to priority list

“I want to … be able to engage with our legislators, both Senator Becker and Assemblymember Papan, to see if there is appetite or if there is space in conversations to designate that area of town as a special vulnerable community,” Councilmember Eddie Flores said during a recent City Council meeting.

Another priority is constructing a community outreach plan surrounding potential service cuts due to the loss of a key revenue source from the state. San Mateo County and its cities have long struggled with the unique bureaucratic mechanisms that deploy what’s known as in-lieu vehicle license fee funding. A 2004 change in the distribution system of VLF, which comes from taxes on California vehicles, tied reimbursement to county property tax revenue and the county’s school districts. But because the setup of San Mateo County’s existing educational revenue structures doesn’t qualify the county for the full in-lieu VLF amount, representatives are left to haggle for the money each year. More recently, the state has entirely removed the line item from its budget.

South San Francisco’s share is about $5 million annually, but according to a recent presentation, the figure will likely grow to $14 million each year by fiscal year 2032.

“This is a wonky issue that not a lot of people know about,” Councilmember James Coleman said. “In a couple of years, we’ll be forced to make some tough decisions … once we do that, I think our constituents, our residents, should know why.”

The council also decided to further explore implementation of stronger reach codes, or building codes that go beyond state-level mandates, to incentivize electrification.