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(a) There is hereby established a fund, which shall be called the Dignity Fund (“Fund”), to be administered by the Department of Disability and Aging Services (“DAAS”), or any successor agency. Monies in the Fund shall be used or expended by DAAS, subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, solely to help Seniors and Adults with Disabilities secure and utilize the services and support necessary to age with dignity in their own homes and communities. For purposes of Section 16.128-1 through 16.128-12, “Senior” shall mean a person 60 years old or older, and “Adult with a Disability” shall mean a person 18 years old or older with a disability as defined under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
(b) The Dignity Fund is needed to ensure the health and well-being of Seniors and Adults with Disabilities for the following reasons:
(1) DAAS and the San Francisco Long Term Care Coordinating Council have advanced a vision and set of long-term goals that highlight best practices, strengthen access to services, coordinate across agencies and City departments, and develop a unified strategy.
(2) Important safety net services to Seniors and Adults with Disabilities such as adult day programs and/or other state-funded services directed to low-income populations have suffered significant losses in funding due in part to the reorganization of California’s health and long-term care services.
(3) San Francisco non-profit community based organizations are the City’s most valuable public assets in terms of supporting Seniors and Adults with Disabilities to age with dignity in their own homes and communities.
(4) Seniors and Adults with Disabilities are valuable contributors to the City’s vitality and must stay connected to friends and family who can help them age in place with dignity.
(5) Because a majority of the City’s Seniors and Adults with Disabilities live on fixed incomes, the growing economic divisions in the City are putting them increasingly at risk of poor health outcomes and institutionalization.
(6) San Francisco has the highest percentage of Seniors and Adults with Disabilities of any urban area in California and the number of Seniors continues to steadily increase, especially for those over the age of 85. Over 40% live alone with inadequate support networks, in part because their families have been forced to seek more affordable housing or employment elsewhere, or because they have no children or they lack supportive families.
(7) The constant increase in economic pressure and lack of support for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities has impacted the cultural and ethnic diversity of the City.
(8) As of 2015, over 19,200 people 55 years of age and older were living in San Francisco with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. This number is projected to increase to 26,868 by 2030 – a 40% increase in 15 years.
(9) Over 70% of veterans in the City are over the age of 55 and 28% of those have disabilities. As of 2015, 40% of all veterans rely on Veterans Administration health care with the remainder reliant on outside agencies to provide care, representing a massive undertaking by community based organizations.
(10) As of 2015, approximately 60% of people with HIV in San Francisco were over 50 years old. In 2020, it is estimated, 70% of people with HIV in San Francisco will be over 50 years old.
(11) In 2013, the Insight Center determined that a single person 65 years of age or older needed a monthly income of $2,526 to rent housing and meet his or her basic needs in San Francisco. At that time, the fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,500 a month and 62% of all Seniors could not afford that rent. As of 2016, the fair market monthly rent for the same apartment is $1,635. Many apartments have higher rents. The median rent for a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco is now approximately $3,600 per month.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016; Amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/5/2019)
(a) To ensure that San Francisco’s Seniors and Adults with Disabilities are provided the opportunity to age with dignity and with affordable, quality services and support.
(b) To ensure San Francisco is an aging- and disability-friendly city, helping individuals age with dignity in communities as an important part of the City population and civic culture.
(c) To focus on the prevention of problems and on supporting and enhancing the strengths of older adults, people with disabilities, and their hands-on care providers.
(d) To complement the City’s housing and community development efforts by providing needed long-term services and support in housing to keep individuals in their homes and communities.
(e) To strengthen a community-based network of services and support in all neighborhoods.
(f) To ensure that Seniors and Adults with Disabilities receive maximum benefit from the Fund and that equity is a guiding principle of the funding process.
(g) To distribute funds based on best practices, the highest need, and successful and innovative models in order to ensure maximum impact.
(h) To the maximum extent feasible, to distribute funds equitably among services for all eligible groups, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity or other identifying characteristics.
(i) To ensure Seniors and Adults with Disabilities are provided with gender responsive and culturally competent services.
(j) To strengthen collaboration around shared and agreed upon outcomes among service providers for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities and their hands-on care providers, including collaboration among public agencies and non-profit organizations.
(k) To fill gaps in services.
(l) To leverage other resources whenever feasible.
(m) To support programs that prioritize:
(1) Stabilizing people, through food, homecare, transportation, and case management services;
(2) Stabilizing housing to permit people to age in place successfully, through eviction protection, housing preservation, and accessibility improvements to existing housing;
(3) Preventive health care and healthy aging;
(4) Supporting transitions to the best home and community care and support, through ombudsman services, transitional care programs, and navigation assistance; and
(5) Caregiver support.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016)
(a) Annual Baseline Contributions to the Fund. Each year during the term of Charter Section 16.128-1 et seq., the City shall make an annual baseline contribution to the Fund in the amount of $38 million, representing the amount the City spent in fiscal year 2016-2017 to provide eligible services as identified in Section 16.128-4 to Seniors and Adults with Disabilities.
(b) Additional Contributions for FY 2017-2018 through FY 2026-2027. For fiscal year 2017-2018, the City shall increase its contribution to the Fund over the baseline amount in subsection (a) by $6 million. For each fiscal year from 2018-2019 through 2026-2027, the City shall increase its additional contribution to the Fund under this subsection (b) by $3 million over the prior year.
(c) Projected Budget Deficits. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), the City may freeze the City’s annual contribution to the Fund for any fiscal year 2017-2018 through 2026-2027 at the then-current amount when the City’s projected budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year at the time of the Joint Report or Update to the Five Year Financial Plan as prepared jointly by the Controller, the Mayor’s Budget Director, and the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Analyst exceeds $200 million, adjusted annually beginning with fiscal year 2017-2018 by the percentage increase or decrease in aggregate City discretionary revenues, as determined by the Controller, based on calculations consistent from year to year. In determining aggregate City discretionary revenues, the Controller shall only include revenues received by the City that are unrestricted and may be used at the option of the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors for any lawful City purpose.
(d) Additional Contributions for FY 2027-2028 through FY 2036-2037. For fiscal years 2027-28 through 2036-2037, the City’s annual contribution to the Fund shall equal its total contribution, including the baseline amount under subsection (a), for the prior year, beginning with Fiscal Year 2026-2027, adjusted by the percentage increase or decrease in aggregate City discretionary revenues, as determined by the Controller, based on calculations consistent from year to year. In determining aggregate City discretionary revenues, the Controller shall not include revenues received by the City under the increased rates in Business and Tax Regulations Code Sections 953.1(g), 953.2(h), 953.3(h), 953.4(e), 953.5(d), 953.6(f), 953.7(d), and 953.8(i) adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020, and shall not include revenues received by the City under Article 36
of the Business and Tax Regulations Code adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020. For purposes of this subsection (d), the “additional contribution” for these years shall mean the amount in excess of the baseline amount.
(e) The City may in any year contribute more to the Fund than the amounts required under subsections (a) through (d), but those increases shall not alter or affect the amounts of the City’s required contributions for subsequent years.
(f) The Controller shall maintain the Fund separate and apart from all other City funds. Any amount in the Fund unspent or uncommitted at the end of the fiscal year shall be carried forward to the next fiscal year and, subject to the budgetary and fiscal limitations of this Charter, shall be appropriated then or thereafter for the services and purposes specified in Section 16.128-4.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016; amended by Proposition F, Approved 11/3/2020)
The City shall only use monies from the Fund for the following categories of services and purposes, to benefit Seniors and Adults with Disabilities:
(a) Home and Community Based Long Term Care and Support: Home care, adult day health care, adult social day care, IHSS emergency homecare, short term interim housing options, housing stabilization and support services, respite care, transitional housing for those leaving institutional care, related transportation (not already mandated or funded), accessible transportation programs, and other similar services funded through the City’s Disability and Aging Services Community Living Fund, or any successor legislation.
(b) Food and Nutrition Programs: Nutrition programs, including group meals, home-delivered meals, home-delivered groceries, food stamps outreach, and related education and outreach programs such as chronic disease self-management programs.
(c) Consumer and Caregiver Education, Empowerment, and Support: Programs including computers and digital learning, peer support programs, employment and training programs not otherwise mandated, senior companions, information and assistance programs, health insurance counseling and advocacy counseling, service connection programs, including resource centers supporting those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and family caregiver support programs.
(d) Senior/Disabled Community and Service Centers: Programs including senior centers, neighborhood-based village projects and similar programs, case management and care coordination, housing-based service connection programs, and other community-building activities that lead to more aging- and disability-friendly neighborhoods.
(e) Empowerment, Self-Advocacy and Legal Services Programs: Programs including benefits counseling and advocacy, eviction prevention, housing advocacy, long term care consumer rights, ombudsman programs, naturalization services, legal services and support, and IHSS/Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”)/Medi-Cal advocacy, including strengthening share of cost options.
(f) Health and Wellness Promotion: Programs including abuse and fraud prevention, grief counseling and suicide prevention, telephone reassurance, medication management, money management, and behavioral health not otherwise funded or mandated, health promotion and screening, and other activities that promote well-being and decrease social isolation.
(g) Targeted Services: Outreach, planning and targeted services and support to LGBT seniors, veterans, ethnic communities, people with disabilities and chronic conditions, their caregivers and other high-need groups as strong and integrated components of the service categories above.
(h) Funding for the Department of Disability and Aging Services to staff the Oversight and Advisory Committee created in Section 16.128-11 (“Oversight and Advisory Committee”), and to support planning and evaluation processes, and facilitate funding allocation;
(i) Administration of the Fund and evaluation of Fund goals and services;
(j) Technical assistance and capacity-building for service providers and community-based partners; and,
(k) Services that supplement, expand, or enhance existing programs for Seniors or Adults with Disabilities.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016; Amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/5/2019)
Notwithstanding Section 16.128-4, services paid for by the Fund shall not include:
(a) Services provided by the Police Department or other law enforcement agencies, courts, the District Attorney, Public Defender, City Attorney, the Fire Department, and detention or probation services mandated by state or federal law;
(b) Any service that benefits Seniors or Adults with Disabilities incidentally or only as members of a larger population of adults;
(c) Any service realigned by the State or for which a fixed or minimum level of expenditure is mandated and funded by state or federal law, to the extent of the level of funding provided;
(d) Acquisition of any capital item unless for the primary and direct use by Seniors and Adults with Disabilities and that is necessary for the expansion of services and support;
(e) Acquisition, other than by lease for a term of ten years or less, of any real property or land, or capital expenditures, or predevelopment or construction costs for housing;
(f) Maintenance, utilities, or any similar operating costs of any facility not used primarily and directly by Seniors and Adults with Disabilities or of any recreation or park facility, library, hospital, or housing;
(g) Medical health services, other than prevention, education, and behavioral and mental health support services; or
(h) Services provided by hospitals and long-term care institutions.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016)
(a) The City shall appropriate the additional contributions to the Fund under Section 16.128-3(b) and (d) according to a four-year planning process. This process is intended to: (1) increase transparency, accountability, and public engagement; (2) provide time and opportunities for community participation and planning; (3) ensure program stability; and (4) maximize the effectiveness of the services funded.
(b) Year 1 – Community Needs Assessment. Beginning in fiscal year 2017-2018 and during every fourth fiscal year thereafter, DAAS shall conduct a Community Needs Assessment (CNA) to identify services to receive monies from the Fund. The CNA shall include qualitative and quantitative data sets collected through interviews, focus groups, surveys, or other outreach mechanisms to determine service gaps and unmet needs. In conducting the CNA, DAAS shall also review needs assessments prepared by community and other governmental entities. Subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, DAAS may contract with consultants and outside experts for such services as it may require to prepare the CNA. DAAS shall undertake a robust community process to solicit input from Seniors and Adults with Disabilities, in consultation with the Mayor’s Office on Disability or any successor agency.
DAAS shall, in consultation with the Oversight and Advisory Committee, develop a plan for how to conduct the CNA with the Oversight and Advisory Committee. The CNA shall include a gap analysis comparing actual performance with potential or desired performance and an equity analysis of services and resources for Seniors, Adults with Disabilities, and their caregivers.
DAAS shall develop a set of equity metrics to be used to establish a baseline of existing services and resources for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities in low-income neighborhoods and disadvantaged communities, compared to services and resources available in the City as a whole. This equity analysis shall include an examination of eligibility for existing programs and will seek to provide more services and support for those low and modest income residents who are not currently eligible for assistance with home and community-based services.
The outreach for the CNA shall create opportunities for a robust cross-section of stakeholders, including Seniors, Adults with Disabilities, their caregivers, nonprofit agencies, and other members of the public, to provide input. By September 1, DAAS shall provide its plan for conducting the CNA to the Oversight and Advisory Committee, the Service Provider Working Group created in Section 16.128-11(e), the Disability and Aging Services Commission and the Board of Supervisors. The plan shall be a public document.
By March 1, DAAS shall complete a draft CNA and provide this draft to the Oversight and Advisory Committee and the Service Provider Working Group for review. DAAS shall also provide the draft CNA to interested City departments and commissions, including but not limited to the Disability and Aging Services Commission, the Mayor’s Office on Disability, the Long Term Care Coordinating Council, the Human Services Commission, the Health Commission, the Recreation and Park Commission, the Adult Probation Department, the Veterans Affairs Commission, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Police Commission, the Library Commission, and the Arts Commission. The CNA shall include an Executive Summary and clear description of the categories of services provided and unmet needs to be addressed.
By April 1, DAAS shall submit a final version of the CNA to the Disability and Aging Services Commission and the DAAS Advisory Council. The final version of the CNA may incorporate any comments or suggestions made by the Oversight and Advisory Committee, the public, or the agencies that received copies of the draft CNA. The Disability and Aging Services Commission and the Oversight and Advisory Committee shall hold a joint public hearing to review the CNA.
By May 1, the Disability and Aging Services Commission shall provide input on and approve or disapprove the CNA. If the Disability and Aging Services Commission disapproves the report, DAAS may modify and resubmit the report.
By June 1, the Board of Supervisors shall consider and approve or disapprove, or modify, the CNA. If the Board disapproves the CNA, DAAS may modify and resubmit the CNA, provided, however, that the City may not expend monies from the Fund until the Board of Supervisors has approved the CNA.
(c) Year 2 – Services and Allocation Plan. Beginning in fiscal year 2018-2019 and during every fourth fiscal year thereafter, DAAS, in consultation with the Oversight and Advisory Committee, shall prepare a Services and Allocation Plan (“SAP”) to determine services that will receive monies from the Fund. All services identified in Section 16.128-4 are potentially eligible to receive funding, but DAAS is not required to classify allocations according to the service categories in that section. DAAS shall use the following process to prepare the SAP:
(1) DAAS shall disseminate a draft SAP to interested City departments and commissions, including but not limited to the Disability and Aging Services Commission, the Mayor’s Office on Disability, the Long Term Care Coordinating Council, the Human Services Commission, the Health Commission, the Recreation and Park Commission, the Adult Probation Department, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Police Commission, the Library Commission, and the Arts Commission. In preparing the draft SAP, DAAS shall confer with the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families to coordinate funding for services for Transitional-Aged Youth, as defined in Charter Section 16.108(e), with Disabilities from both the Dignity Fund and the Children and Youth Fund.
The SAP must:
(A) Demonstrate consistency with the CNA and with Citywide vision and goals for the Fund;
(B) Include all services for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities to secure and utilize the services and support necessary to age with dignity in their own homes and communities;
(C) Be outcome-oriented and include goals and measurable and verifiable objectives and outcomes;
(D) Include capacity-building and evaluation of services as separate funding areas;
(E) State how services will be coordinated and have specific amounts allocated towards specific goals, service models, populations, and neighborhoods;
(F) Include funding for neighborhood-initiated projects totaling at least 3% of the total proposed expenditures from the Fund for the four-year planning cycle established in this Section 16.128-6;
(G) Include funding for pilot programs to develop and test new and innovative programs, in an amount not to exceed 3% of the total proposed expenditures from the Fund for the cycle;
(H) Include funding for an undesignated contingency reserve, in an amount not to exceed 2% of the total proposed expenditures from the Fund for the cycle;
(J) Include evaluation data from the previous funding cycle; and
(K) Incorporate strategies to coordinate and align services for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities funded by all governmental or private entities and administered by the City, whether or not those services are eligible to receive monies from the Fund.
(2) The SAP shall reference the gap analysis and equity analysis of services and resources for Seniors, Adults with Disabilities, and their caregivers included in the CNA. Using the equity metrics developed for preparation of the CNA, the SAP shall compare proposed new, augmented, and coordinated services and resources for low-income and moderate-income neighborhoods and disadvantaged communities with services and resources available to the City as a whole.
(3) Subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, DAAS may contract with consultants and outside experts for such services as the Department may require to prepare the SAP, including the equity analysis of services and resources for Seniors, Adults with Disabilities, and their caregivers.
(4) The Board of Supervisors shall by ordinance outline the timeline for the development of the Services and Allocation Plan. Prior to completion of the first SAP and while the first planning cycle is in process, DAAS, in consultation with the Oversight and Advisory Committee, may expend monies from the Fund based on existing needs assessment analysis.
(d) Years 3 and 4 – Selection of Contractors. Beginning with Fiscal Years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 and during every fourth fiscal year thereafter, DAAS shall conduct competitive solicitations for services to be funded from the Fund. Requests for proposals will be grouped by issue area and spread out on a schedule known in advance to provide for a smooth and efficient timeline. The Human Services Agency and the Department of Disability and Aging Services shall work together and manage resources so that the RFP process will keep to the schedule and contract awards will be made within a reasonable time.
(e) Years 3 and 4 – Service Cycle Begins. Contracts for services shall start on July 1, beginning with Fiscal Year 2019-2020. During subsequent years of the four-year planning cycle established in this Section 16.128-6, DAAS, with the consultation and input of the Oversight and Advisory Committee, may issue supplemental competitive solicitations to address amendments to the SAP and emerging needs.
(f) DAAS may recommend, and the Oversight and Advisory Committee and the Board of Supervisors may approve, changes to the due dates and timelines provided in this Section 16.128-6. The Board of Supervisors shall approve such changes by ordinance.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016; Amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/5/2019)
DAAS shall provide for the evaluation on a regular basis of all services funded through the Fund, and shall prepare on a regular basis an Evaluation and Data Report for the Oversight and Advisory Committee. Subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, DAAS may contract with consultants and outside experts for such services as the Department may require to conduct such evaluations and to prepare the Evaluation and Data Report. This evaluation process is intended to be reasonable in scope and to build on and strengthen existing program evaluations.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016)
The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall recommend standards and procedures for the selection of contractors to be funded from the Fund. It shall be the policy of the City to use competitive solicitation processes where appropriate and to give priority to the participation of non-profit agencies.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016)
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016)
No appropriation, contract, or other action shall be held invalid or set aside by reason of any error, including without limitation any irregularity, informality, neglect, or omission, in carrying out procedures specified in Sections 16.128-1 through 16.128-12, unless a court finds that the party challenging the action suffered substantial injury from the error and that a different result would have been probable had the error not occurred.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016)
(a) Creation. There shall be a Dignity Fund Oversight and Advisory Committee (“Oversight and Advisory Committee”) to monitor and participate in the administration of the Dignity Fund as provided in Charter Sections 16.128-1 et seq., and to take steps to ensure that the Fund is administered in a manner accountable to the community.
(b) Responsibilities.
(1) The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall develop recommendations for DAAS and the Fund regarding outcomes for services to Seniors and Adults with Disabilities, the evaluation of services, common data systems, a process for making funding decisions, program improvement and capacity-building of service providers, community engagement in planning and evaluating services, leveraging dollars of the Fund, and the use of the Fund as a catalyst for innovation. The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall promote and facilitate transparency and accountability in the administration of the Fund and in the planning and allocation process.
(2) As provided in Section 16.128-6, the Oversight and Advisory Committee shall provide input into the planning process for the Community Needs Assessment (“CNA”) and the final CNA, the Services and Allocation Plan, and the over-all spending plan for the Fund to be presented to the Disability and Aging Services Commission, and shall review the annual Data and Evaluation Report. Nothing in this Section 16.128-11 shall limit the authority of the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors to propose, amend, and adopt a budget under Article IX of the Charter.
(3) The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall establish and maintain a Service Provider Working Group as provided in subsection (e).
(4) The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall meet at least six times a year.
(c) Composition. The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall have 11 members. The Disability and Aging Services Commission shall appoint two of its members to the Oversight and Advisory Committee. The Advisory Council to the Department of Disability and Aging Services shall appoint three of its members to the Oversight and Advisory Committee. And the Long Term Care Council shall appoint three of its members to the Oversight and Advisory Committee. The Mayor shall appoint the remaining three at-large members of the Oversight and Advisory Committee, subject to rejection by the Board of Supervisors within 30 days following transmittal of the Notice of Appointment.
The appointing authorities shall appoint the initial members by February 1, 2017. The terms of the initial appointees to the Committee shall commence on the date of the first meeting of the Committee, which may occur when at least eight members have been appointed and are present.
(d) Implementation. The Board of Supervisors shall further provide by ordinance for the membership, structure, functions, appointment criteria, terms, and administrative and clerical support of the Oversight and Advisory Committee. The Board of Supervisors shall adopt such legislation to be effective by January 1, 2017.
(e) Service Provider Working Group. The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall create a Service Provider Working Group (“Working Group”) to advise the Oversight and Advisory Committee on funding priorities, policy development, the planning cycle, evaluation design and plans, and any other issues of concern to the Working Group related to the Fund or the responsibilities of DAAS or other departments receiving monies from the Fund. The Working Group shall engage a broad cross-section of service providers in providing information, education, and consultation to the Oversight and Advisory Committee. All members of the Working Group shall be actively providing services to Seniors, Adults with Disabilities, and their caregivers. DAAS staff shall provide administrative and clerical support to the Working Group. The Working Group shall meet at least four times a year. The Oversight and Advisory Committee shall appoint two initial co-chairs of the Working Group, who shall be responsible for developing the structure of the Working Group and facilitating the meetings. After the terms of the initial co-chairs expire, the Working Group shall select its own chairs. Working Group meetings shall be open to the public and encourage widespread participation.
(Added by Proposition I, Approved 11/8/2016; Amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/5/2019)
(a) The City Attorney shall cause all references in the Municipal Code to the Aging and Adult Services Commission, the Department of Aging and Adult Services, and the Aging and Adult Services Community Living Fund to be amended to refer to the Disability and Aging Services Commission, the Department of Disability and Aging Services, and the Disability and Aging Services Community Living Fund, respectively.
(b) Upon completion of the amendments required by subsection (a), the City Attorney shall cause this Section 16.128-13 to be removed from the Charter.
(Added by Proposition B, Approved 11/5/2019)
(a) Definitions. For purposes of this Section 16.129:
“City” shall mean the City and County of San Francisco.
“Maintenance” (and its root “Maintain”) shall mean those actions necessary to promote the life, growth, health, or beauty of a Tree. Maintenance includes both routine maintenance and major maintenance. Routine maintenance includes adequate watering to ensure the Tree’s growth and sustainability; weed control; removal of Tree-well trash; staking; fertilizing; routine adjustment and timely removal of stakes, ties, Tree guards, and Tree grates; bracing; and Sidewalk repairs related to the Tree’s growth or root system. Major maintenance includes structural pruning as necessary to maintain public safety and to sustain the health, safety, and natural growth habit of the Tree; pest and disease-management procedures as needed and in a manner consistent with public health and ecological diversity; and replacement of dead or damaged Trees. Pruning practices shall be in compliance with International Society of Arboriculture Best Management Practices and ANSI Pruning Standards, whichever is more protective of Tree preservation, or any equivalent standard or standards selected by the Director of the Department of Public Works.
“Planting” shall mean putting or setting into the ground or into a container to grow, and irrigating until self-sufficient.
“Removal” shall mean any intentional or negligent moving, carrying away, elimination, or taking away of part or all of a Tree.
“Sidewalk” shall mean the area between the curbing and the abutting private property lot line, whether paved or unpaved, as legislated by the Board of Supervisors and as reflected in the official maps of the Department of Public Works.
“Street Tree” shall mean any Tree growing within the public right-of-way, including unimproved public streets and Sidewalks, and any Tree growing on land under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works. “Street Tree” does not include any other forms of landscaping.
“Tree” shall mean any perennial, woody or fibrous plant species or cultivar, which reaches a height exceeding 10 feet at maturity, and which supports a branched or un-branched leaf canopy.
(b) City Responsibility to Maintain Street Trees. Beginning on July 1, 2017, and except as otherwise required by supervening law, the City shall be responsible for Maintaining Street Trees, including Street Trees planted both before and after July 1, 2017. The City may not adopt any ordinance making it the duty of owners of lots or portions of lots immediately abutting on, fronting on, or adjacent to any Street Tree to Maintain such Street Tree on or after July 1, 2017. Any such ordinance in existence on July 1, 2017, shall, to the extent it conflicts with this Section 16.129, be void.
(c) Limitations of Transfer of Responsibility. Nothing in this Section 16.129 shall: (1) affect the rights or responsibilities of the City or property owners with respect to the Removal, establishment, or relocation of a Street Tree; (2) prevent the City from entering into voluntary agreements with third parties for them to assume responsibility for Street Tree Maintenance or continuing to abide by any such prior agreement; (3) prevent the City from imposing any legally permitted penalties or fees on persons who injure, damage, or destroy Trees; or (4) relieve abutting property owners from their responsibility for the care and Maintenance of the Sidewalk and Sidewalk areas adjacent to any Street Tree, other than the responsibility for Sidewalk repairs related to the Tree’s growth or root system, which shall be the responsibility of the City.
(d) Limitation of Liability. Beginning on July 1, 2017, any local law imposing liability on property owners that do not Maintain Street Trees for injury or property damage shall not apply to the extent that the injury or property damage occurred on or after July 1, 2017, and was proximately caused by the City’s failure to Maintain a Street Tree under this Section 16.129, but shall otherwise remain applicable. Nothing in this Section 16.129 shall be construed to impose liability on the City for injury or property damage that occurred as a result of the property owner’s responsibility to Maintain a Street Tree prior to July 1, 2017. To the extent that the Maintenance of a Street Tree requires that the City access private property, the City shall attempt in good faith to obtain permission from the owner of the private property. If the owner refuses to grant the City permission to access the private property for the purpose of Maintaining the Street Tree, the City shall have no liability for any damages related to the Maintenance of that Street Tree, and the property owner shall be subject to liability for such damages.
(e) No later than April 1, 2017, the Department of Public Works shall submit to the Board of Supervisors recommended amendments to Public Works Code Article 16, including but not limited to Section 805, to conform to this Section 16.129.
(f) Creating the Street Tree Maintenance Fund; Annual City Contributions. There shall be a Street Tree Maintenance Fund (the “Fund”). Each fiscal year, beginning in fiscal year 2017-2018, the City shall contribute $19 million to the Fund. The Fund shall also include any other monies appropriated or allocated to the Fund. Beginning in fiscal year 2018-2019, the Controller shall adjust the amount of the City’s annual $19 million contribution to the Fund under this subsection (f) by the percentage increase or decrease in aggregate City discretionary revenues, as determined by the Controller, based on calculations consistent from year to year. In determining aggregate City discretionary revenues, the Controller shall only include revenues received by the City that are unrestricted and may be used at the option of the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors for any lawful City purpose. Additionally, in determining aggregate City discretionary revenues, the Controller shall not include revenues received by the City under the increased rates in Business and Tax Regulations Code Sections 953.1(g), 953.2(h), 953.3(h), 953.4(e), 953.5(d), 953.6(f), 953.7(d), and 953.8(i) adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020, and shall not include revenues received by the City under Article 36 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code adopted by the voters at the general municipal election on November 3, 2020. The change in aggregate discretionary revenues will be adjusted following the end of the fiscal year when final revenues are known. The Controller is authorized to increase or reduce budgetary appropriations as required under this subsection (f) to reflect changes in aggregate discretionary revenues following the end of the fiscal year when final revenues are known. The Controller shall set aside and maintain the above amounts, together with any interest earned thereon, in the Fund, which shall be subject to appropriation. Any amount unspent or uncommitted at the end of the fiscal year shall be deemed to have been devoted exclusively to a specified purpose within the meaning of Charter Section 9.113(a), shall be carried forward to the next fiscal year, and, subject to the budgetary and fiscal limitations of this Charter, shall be appropriated then or thereafter for the purposes set forth in this Section 16.129.
(g) Beginning in fiscal year 2018-2019, the City may suspend growth in the City’s $19 million contribution to the Fund under subsection (f) of this Section 16.129 if the City’s projected budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year at the time of the Joint Report or Update to the five-year financial plan as prepared jointly by the Controller, the Mayor’s Budget Director, and the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Analyst exceeds $200 million adjusted annually by changes in aggregate discretionary revenues as defined in subsection (f) of this Section 16.129.
(h) Administration and Use of the Fund. The Department of Public Works shall administer the Fund. Monies in the Fund shall only be used for the following purposes:
(1) Maintenance and Removal of Street Trees;
(2) Necessary costs of administering the Fund; and
(3) Making grants totaling up to $500,000 annually to the San Francisco Unified School District exclusively to fund Maintenance and Removal of Trees on School District property.
Monies in the Fund shall not be used for Planting new Street Trees, or for grants to the San Francisco Unified School District for the Planting of new Trees on School District property, but may be used to pay the costs of Maintaining and Removing Street Trees that were planted before or after July 1, 2017, and to make grants to the School District to Maintain and Remove Trees that were planted before or after July 1, 2017.
(i) Annual Reports. Commencing with a report filed no later than January 1, 2019, covering the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, the Department of Public Works shall file annually with the Board of Supervisors, by January 1 of each year, a report containing the amount of monies collected in and expended from the Fund during the prior fiscal year, and such other information as the Director of the Department of Public Works, in the Director’s sole discretion, shall deem relevant to the operation of this Section 16.129
.
(j) Early Termination. At any time before January 1, 2017, the Mayor, after consulting with his or her Budget Director and the Controller, and after taking into account the City’s projected revenues and expenditures in the City’s financial plans, may terminate implementation of this Section 16.129 by issuing a written notice to the Board of Supervisors and the Controller. The termination shall be irrevocable and apply to this entire Section. Upon the Mayor’s submittal of the notice to the Controller and the Board of Supervisors, this Section 16.129 shall, by operation of law, become inoperative, and the City Attorney shall cause this Section to be removed from the Charter.
(Added by Proposition E, Approved 11/8/2016; amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/3/2020; Proposition F, Approved 11/3/2020; Proposition B, Approved 11/8/2022)
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