2016 Public Health and Safety Bond

In June 2016, San Francisco voters approved the $350 million Public Health and Safety bond (Prop A) with 79 percent voting in favor of the measure.

 

Funding from the bond will improve community medical and mental health services, emergency safety and medical response, and vital neighborhood fire stations and homeless service sites. The bond will fund capital improvements to City facilities to meet critical health and safety needs in San Francisco.

 

Updates and reports on the bond program and projects will be posted on this page (sfpublicworks.org/publichealthbond).

 

Health
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, neighborhood health centers and homeless service sites ($292 million)

• make essential earthquake safety improvements and modernize fire response systems at a 1970s-era hospital building on the Zuckerberg San Francisco General campus, to create an outpatient center, expand urgent care and preserve the City’s only psychiatric emergency department
• renovate the Southeast Health Center and other high-demand, neighborhood-based community health centers to improve and expand access to serve more patients
• improve and expand services delivered at homeless service sites in San Francisco, addressing health and safety deficiencies in City-owned shelters serving homeless families and individuals

Safety
San Francisco Fire Department Ambulance Deployment Facility and Neighborhood Fire Stations ($58 million)

• construct a modern, seismically safe ambulance and paramedic deployment facility to dispatch ambulance and paramedic staff for quicker response
• ensure the ambulance-dispatch facility remains operational during and after a major earthquake
• make urgently needed repairs and modernizations to neighborhood fire stations across the city
   

Resilience

It is a top priority for the City to ensure the availability of health care and emergency services after a major earthquake. The voter-approved, state-of-the-art Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital opens spring 2016. This bond continues the work to make our health services resilient.

 

Why now?

San Francisco must continually prepare for a major earthquake or disaster. By upgrading these health and safety facilities, San Francisco can help protect its residents, neighborhoods and businesses in an emergency. Current facilities and health care infrastructure are deteriorating, inadequate and seismically deficient, impacting health care services at the only trauma center in the City that serves all San Francisco residents. Every year that we delay repairs and needed upgrades to our health care and public safety facilities, the cost to repair and renovate them increases.

This investment is using tax dollars wisely for upgrades to critical infrastructure that must be fixed sooner or later. By acting now, we can improve health care access and save local taxpayer dollars.

 

How will it work?

This bond would not increase local property tax rates.

Projects in this bond proposal are part of the City’s Ten-Year Capital Plan. As with other general obligation bond programs, the measure must be supported by more than two-thirds of San Francisco voters. The City’s current debt management policy is to issue new general obligation bonds only as old ones are retired, keeping the property tax rate at current levels.

The 2016 Public Health and Safety Bond will have accountability standards in place including transparency through independent annual reviews, audits and reports to the Citizens General Obligation Oversight Committee. Reports are submitted on a regular basis in regard to budget, schedule and scope posted on this webpage.

For more information or questions, send an email or call 415-423-4260.

Download the Factsheet and the Bond Report.