BILL NUMBER: AB 664 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ammiano
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add Section 53395.9 to the Government Code, relating to
infrastructure financing districts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 664, as amended, Ammiano. Infrastructure financing districts:
America's Cup district.
Existing law authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to
create infrastructure financing districts, including districts that
include specified waterfront property, adopt infrastructure financing
plans for those districts, and issue bonds financed by projected
increases in ad valorem property taxes to fund certain public
facilities, pursuant to a specified procedure. Existing property tax
law establishes various procedures and requirements with respect to
the annual apportionment and allocation of ad valorem property tax
revenues, including increased revenues from these infrastructure
financing districts.
This bill would authorize the adoption under these provisions of a
financing plan for a waterfront district that includes the
waterfront area in the City and County of San Francisco designated as
the America's Cup venues, and the use of specified tax revenues
produced in the district for the construction of the Port of San
Francisco's cruise terminal project at Pier 27, and related work,
and improvement of publicly-held waterfront lands used as
viewing sites, subject to specified allocation procedures. It
would require the county board of supervisors to submit a fiscal
analysis to the California Infrastructure and Economic Development
Bank for review and approval before adopting the resolution
authorizing the issuance of debt pursuant to these provisions.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the City and County of San
Francisco.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Areas of San Francisco, including portions of the San
Francisco waterfront, are characterized by deteriorating conditions
that cannot be remedied by private investment alone, and require the
use of public financing mechanisms to finance the rectification of
deteriorating conditions.
(b) In February 2010, the BMW ORACLE Racing Team (and its
successors, the "team"), sailing under the burgee of the Golden Gate
Yacht Club, won the 33rd America's Cup, off the coast of Valencia,
Spain. The America's Cup, which was first awarded in 1851, is the
oldest sporting trophy in sailing history. On December 31, 2010, the
team designated the City and County of San Francisco to host the 34th
America's Cup sailing regatta. The team has designated as the
potential venue for the 34th America's Cup the San Francisco
waterfront area generally between the Golden Gate Bridge to the north
and the Bay Bridge to the south. The team anticipates holding the
34th America's Cup match in San Francisco Bay in 2013, with
preliminary races worldwide beginning in 2011 and in San Francisco
Bay in 2012.
(c) An economic impact study by the Bay Area Council's Economic
Institute and Beacon Economics released in July 2010 concludes that
hosting the America's Cup on the San Francisco Bay would generate
nearly 9,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in direct spending in the San
Francisco Bay area and California, and nearly $1.9 billion
nationwide. The study reports that the America's Cup is the world's
third largest sporting competition after the Olympics and soccer's
World Cup.
(d) The San Francisco waterfront is a valuable public trust asset
of the state that provides special maritime, navigational,
recreational, cultural, and historical benefits to the people of the
region and the state. Realizing the goals of the port waterfront land
use plan, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development
Commission special area plan, and the port capital plan is a matter
of statewide significance, and rectifying the deteriorating
conditions along the San Francisco waterfront caused by deferred
maintenance since 1969 by providing a financing mechanism, through
the use of incremental property tax revenues, is a matter of
statewide importance that will further the purposes of both the
public trust and the Burton Act trust. Public facilities along the
San Francisco waterfront to be financed pursuant to the
infrastructure financing district law will increase public access to,
and use or enjoyment of, public trust lands and are, therefore,
facilities of statewide and communitywide significance.
(e) The City of San Francisco has agreed to provide the team with
venues for regattas, team and competitor facilities, sponsorship
activities, spectator viewing, and ancillary activities. The venues
will be located on water areas, piers and wharves, and waterfront and
landside property under Port of San Francisco jurisdiction,
generally from Pier 19 to Pier 80, and will include shared use of the
city's new cruise terminal facility to be built on Pier 27; all of
the venues, as determined from time to time, are collectively
referred to as the "America's Cup venues." The City and County of San
Francisco intends to establish infrastructure financing districts to
finance public facilities along the San Francisco waterfront through
its port, including a district covering the America's Cup venues.
Due to the extraordinary capital needs of the port, it is the intent
of the Legislature in enacting this act to provide the City and
County of San Francisco and its port the widest latitude, within the
framework of the infrastructure financing district law, to create and
operate infrastructure financing districts in the manner that
provides the optimal financing options to construct needed public
facilities on public trust waterfront lands in order to meet the
stated goals of statewide significance.
SEC. 2. Section 53395.9 is added to the Government Code, to read:
53395.9. (a) This section shall apply only to a waterfront
district in the City and County of San Francisco comprising some or
all of the America's Cup venues.
(b) An America's Cup district may be created as a waterfront
district pursuant to, and shall be subject to, all applicable
requirements of Sections 53395.3 and 53395.8, except as provided in
and this section.
(c) (1) The America's Cup ERAF share produced in an America's Cup
district shall be used only to finance the following:
(A) Construction of the Port of San Francisco's cruise terminal
project at Pier 27.
(B) Planning and design work that is directly related to the port'
s Pier 27 cruise terminal project.
(C) Planning, design, and construction of improvements to
publicly-owned waterfront lands held by trustee agencies, such as the
National Park Service and the California State Parks, and used as
public spectator viewing sites for America's Cup related events.
(2) An America's Cup enhanced financing plan shall provide that
the proceeds of ERAF-secured debt are restricted for use to finance
directly, reimburse the port for its costs related to, or refinance
other debt incurred, in the construction of the port's cruise
terminal project.
(3) Twenty percent in the aggregate of the America's Cup ERAF
share allocated to the port under this section shall be set aside to
finance costs of improvements to federally- or state-owned waterfront
lands approved by trustee agencies such as the National Park Service
or the California State Parks as provided in subparagraph (C) of
paragraph (1).
(d) (1) Before adopting the resolution authorizing the issuance of
debt by an America's Cup district authorized by this section, the
board of supervisors shall submit a fiscal analysis to the California
Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank for review and
approval.
(2) The bank may circulate the fiscal analysis to other state
agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Finance,
the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Office
of Planning and Research, and solicit their comments and
recommendations. After considering the comments and recommendations
of other state agencies, if any, the bank shall take one of the
following actions:
(A) Approve the fiscal analysis if the bank makes the finding
required pursuant to paragraph (4).
(B) Return the fiscal analysis to the board of supervisors with
specific recommendations for changes that would allow the bank to
approve the fiscal analysis.
(3) The bank shall have 30 days from the receipt of the fiscal
analysis to act pursuant to this subdivision. If the bank does not
act within 30 days, the fiscal analysis shall be deemed approved.
(4) For bank approval, the fiscal analysis shall demonstrate to
the bank's reasonable satisfaction a reasonable probability that the
economic activity proposed to occur as a result of hosting the
America's Cup event in California would result in an amount of
revenue to the General Fund with a net present value that is greater
than the net present value of the amount of property tax increment
revenues that would be diverted from ERAF over the term of the
America's Cup district, taking into consideration all pertinent data.
In reviewing the board's fiscal analysis, the bank shall consider
only those General Fund revenues that would occur because of economic
activity proposed to occur as a result of hosting the America's Cup
event in California. The bank shall not consider those General Fund
revenues that would have occurred if the America's Cup event were not
held in California.
(e) The county auditor or officer responsible for the payment of
taxes into the funds of the respective taxing entities shall allocate
and pay to an America's Cup district the portion of taxes required
to be allocated pursuant to an approved America's Cup enhanced
financing plan. If the plan allocates 100 percent of the incremental
tax revenue to the district, then the district shall not make a
payment to ERAF, but if the plan allocates less than 100 percent of
the incremental tax revenue of San Francisco to an America's Cup
district then the district shall pay a proportionate share of
incremental tax revenue into ERAF. The district shall file a
statement of indebtedness and a reconciliation statement annually in
the same manner as described in subdivision (i) of Section 53395.8.
(f) This section implements and fulfills the intent of this
article and of Article XIII B and Section 16 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution. The allocation and payment to the America's
Cup district of the America's Cup ERAF share for the purpose of
paying principal of, or interest on, loans, advances, or indebtedness
incurred for facilities under this section shall not be deemed the
receipt by the district of proceeds of taxes levied by or on behalf
of the district within the meaning or for the purposes of Article
XIII B of the California Constitution, nor shall this portion of
taxes be deemed the receipt of proceeds of taxes by, or an
appropriation subject to limitation of, any other public body within
the meaning or for purposes of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution or any statutory provision enacted in implementation of
Article XIII B. The allocation and payment to a district of this
portion of taxes shall not be deemed the appropriation by a district
of proceeds of taxes levied by or on behalf of a district within the
meaning or for purposes of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
(g) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings except as otherwise provided:
(1) "America's Cup district" means a waterfront district that
includes the waterfront area in the City and County of San Francisco
designated as the America's Cup venues, excluding any venues within
the Rincon Point-South Beach Redevelopment Project Area.
(2) "America's Cup enhanced financing plan" means an
infrastructure district financing plan for an America's Cup district
that contains a provision identical to that authorized for a Pier 70
district under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (g)
of Section 55395.8.
(3) "America's Cup ERAF-secured debt" means debt incurred in
accordance with an America's Cup enhanced financing plan that is
secured by and will be repaid from the America's Cup ERAF share.
(4) "America's Cup ERAF share" means the county ERAF portion of
incremental tax revenue committed, as applicable, to an America's Cup
district under an enhanced financing plan.
(5) "Cruise terminal project" means all phases of the Port of San
Francisco's public works project to build new cruise terminal
facilities at Pier 27 in San Francisco and includes any public access
and public open space improvements on Pier 27.
(6) "ERAF" means the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique circumstances of the City and County of San
Francisco. The facts constituting the special circumstances are:
Areas of San Francisco, including the portions of the San
Francisco waterfront, are characterized by deteriorating conditions
that cannot be remedied by private investment alone, and require the
use of public financing mechanisms to finance the rectification of
the deteriorating conditions. In order to adapt the provisions of law
governing infrastructure financing districts to these unique
circumstances, this special act is necessary.