SEC. 411A.2. DEFINITIONS.

   See Section 401 of this Article 4 for definitions of terms applicable to this Section 411A. In addition, the following abbreviations are used throughout Section 411A: TIDF (Transit Impact Development Fee); TSF (Transportation Sustainability Fee).

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016)

SEC. 411A.3. APPLICATION OF TSF.

   (a)   Except as provided in Subsection (b), the TSF shall apply to any Development Project in the City that results in:

      (1)   More than twenty new dwelling units;

      (2)   New group housing facilities, or additions of 800 gross square feet or more to an existing group housing facility;

      (3)   New construction of a Non-Residential use in excess of 800 gross square feet, or additions of 800 gross square feet or more to an existing Non-Residential use; or

      (4)   New construction of a PDR use in excess of 1,500 gross square feet, or additions of 1,500 gross square feet or more to an existing PDR use; or

      (5)   Change or Replacement of Use, such that the rate charged for the new use is higher than the rate charged for the existing use, regardless of whether the existing use previously paid the TSF or TIDF.

      (6)   Change or Replacement of Use from a Hospital or a Health Service to any other use.

   (b)   Exemptions. Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the TSF shall not apply to the following:

      (1)   City Projects. Development Projects on property owned by the City, except for that portion of a Development Project that may be developed by a private sponsor and not intended to be occupied by the City or other agency or entity exempted under Section 411A, in which case the TSF shall apply only to such non-exempted portion. Development Projects on property owned by a private person or entity and leased to the City shall be subject to the fee, unless such Development Project is otherwise exempted under Section 411A.

      (2)   Redevelopment Projects and Projects with Development Agreements. Development Projects in a Redevelopment Plan Area or in an area covered by a Development Agreement in existence at the time a building or site permit is issued for the Development Project, to the extent payment of the TSF would be inconsistent with such Redevelopment Plan or Development Agreement.

      (3)   Projects of the United States. Development Projects located on property owned by the United States or any of its agencies to be used exclusively for governmental purposes.

      (4)   Projects of the State of California. Development Projects located on property owned by the State of California or any of its agencies to be used exclusively for governmental purposes.

      (5)   Affordable Housing Projects. Affordable housing, pursuant to the provisions of Planning Code Section 406(b), other than that required by Planning Code Sections 415 or 419 et seq., or any units that trigger a Density Bonus under California Government Code Sections 65915-65918.

      (6)   Small Businesses. Each Change of Use from PDR to Non-Residential, or expansion of an existing PDR or Non-Residential use through an addition that adds new gross floor area to an existing building, shall be exempt from the TSF, provided that: (A) the gross square footage of the resulting individual unit of PDR or Non-Residential use is not greater than 5,000 gross square feet, and (B) the resulting use is not a Formula Retail use, as defined in Section 303.1 of this Code. This exemption shall not apply to new construction or Replacement of Use.

      (7)   Charitable Exemptions.

         (A)   The TSF shall not apply to any portion of a project located on a property or portion of a property that will be exempt from real property taxation or possessory interest taxation under California Constitution, Article XIII, Section 4, as implemented by California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 214. However, any Hospital or Health Service that requires an Institutional Master Plan under Section 304.5 of the Planning Code shall not be eligible for this charitable exemption, and shall as of the effective date of this Ordinance* be subject to the TSF, as set forth in Section 411A.4 and 411A.5, below.

         (B)   Any project receiving a Charitable Exemption shall maintain its tax exempt status, as applicable, for at least 10 years after the issuance of its Certificate of Final Completion. If the property or portion thereof loses its tax exempt status within the 10-year period, then the property owner shall be required to pay the TSF that was previously exempted. Such payment shall be required within 90 days of the property losing its tax exempt status.

         (C)   If a property owner fails to pay the TSF within the 90-day period, a notice for request of payment shall be served by the Development Fee Collection Unit at DBI under Section 107A.13 of the San Francisco Building Code. Thereafter, upon nonpayment, a lien proceeding shall be instituted under Section 408 of this Article and Section 107A.13.15 of the San Francisco Building Code.

         (D)   The Zoning Administrator shall approve and order the recordation of a Notice in the Official Records of the Recorder of the City and County of San Francisco for the subject property prior to the issuance of a building or site permit. This Notice shall state the amount of the TSF exempted per this subsection (b)(7). It shall also state the requirements and provisions of subsections (b)(7)(B) and (b)(7)(C) above.

   (c)   Timing of Payment. The TSF shall be paid at the time of and in no event later than when the City issues a first construction document, with an option for the project sponsor to defer payment to prior to issuance of the first certificate of occupancy upon agreeing to pay a deferral surcharge in accordance with Section 107A.13.3 of the San Francisco Building Code.

   (d)   Application of the TSF to Projects in the Approval Process at the Effective Date of Section 411A. The TSF shall apply to Development Projects that are in the approval process at the effective date of Section 411A, except as modified below:

      (1)   Projects that have a Development Application approved before the effective date of this Section shall not be subject to the TSF, but shall be subject to the TIDF at the rate applicable pursuant to Planning Code Sections 411.3(e) and 409, as well as any other applicable fees.

      (2)   Projects that have filed a Development Application or environmental review application on or before July 21, 2015, and have not received approval of any such application, shall be subject to the TSF as follows, except as described in subsection (3) below:

         (A)   Residential Uses subject to the TSF shall pay 50% of the applicable residential TSF rate, as well as any other applicable fees.

         (B)    The Non-residential or PDR portion of any project shall be subject to the TSF but pay the applicable TIDF rate pursuant to Planning Code Sections 411.3(e) and 409, as well as any other applicable fees.

      (3)   Projects that have not filed a Development Application or environmental review application before July 22, 2015, and file the first such application on or after July 22, 2015, and have not received approval of any such application, as well as projects within the Central SoMa Special Use District that have a Central SoMa Fee Tier of A, B, or C, as defined in Section 423.2, regardless of the date filed of any Development Application, shall be subject to the TSF as follows:

         (A)   Residential Uses subject to the TSF shall pay 100% of the applicable residential TSF rate, as well as any other applicable fees.

         (B)   The Non-residential or PDR portion of any project shall pay 100% of the applicable Non-residential or PDR TSF rate, as well as any other applicable fees.

   (e)   Effect of TSF on TIDF and Development Subject to TIDF.

      (1)   The provisions of this Section 411A are intended to supersede the provisions of Section 411 et seq. as to new development in the City as of the effective date of Section 411A, except as stated below. The provisions of Section 411 et seq. are hereby suspended, with the following exceptions:

         (A)   Section 411 et seq. shall remain operative and effective with respect to any Redevelopment Plan, Development Agreement, Interagency Cooperation Agreement, or any other agreement entered into by the City, the former Redevelopment Agency or the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency, that is valid and effective on the effective date of Section 411A, and that by its terms would preclude the application of Section 411A, and instead allow for the application of Section 411 et seq.

         (B)   Section 411 et seq. shall remain operative and effective with respect to Development Projects that are in the approval process as of the effective date of Section 411A, and for which the TIDF is imposed as set forth in Section 411A.3(d).

         (C)   Section 411 et seq. shall remain operative and effective with respect to imposition and collection of the TIDF for any new development for which a Development Application was approved prior to the effective date of Section 411A, and for which TIDF has not been paid.

      (2)   Notwithstanding subsection (e)(1) above, if the City Attorney certifies in writing to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors that a court has determined that the provisions of Section 411A are invalid or unenforceable in whole or substantial part, the provisions of Section 411 shall no longer be suspended and shall become operative as of the effective date of the court ruling. In that event, the City Attorney shall cause to be printed appropriate notations in the Planning Code indicating that the provisions of Section 411A are suspended, and the provisions of Section 411 are no longer suspended.

      (3)   The City Attorney's certification referenced in subsection (e)(2) above shall be superseded if the City Attorney thereafter certifies in writing to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors that the provisions of Section 411A are valid and enforceable in whole or in substantial part because the court decision referenced in subsection (e)(2) has been reversed, overturned, invalidated, or otherwise rendered inoperative with respect to Section 411A. In that event, the provisions of Section 411A shall no longer be suspended and shall become operative as of the date the court decision no longer governs, and the provisions of Section 411 shall be suspended except as specified in Section 411A. Further, the City Attorney shall cause to be printed appropriate notations in the Planning Code indicating the same.

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and  Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016; amended by Ord. 296-18, File No. 180184, App. 12/12/2018, Eff. 1/12/2019)

AMENDMENT HISTORY

Divisions (d)(1), (d)(2), (d)(2)(B), and (d)(3) amended; Ord. 296-18, Eff. 1/12/2019.

* Editor's Note:
   The phrase "as of the effective date of this Ordinance" was added to this section by Ord. 222-15 , eff. 1/17/2016.

SEC. 411A.4. CALCULATION OF TSF.

(See Interpretations related to this Section.)

   (a)   Calculation. The TSF shall be calculated on the basis of the amount of new gross square feet created by the Development Project, multiplied by the TSF rate in effect at the issuance of the First Construction Document for each of the applicable land use categories within the Development Project, as provided in the Fee Schedule set forth in Section 411A.5, except as provided in subsections (b)-(e), below. An accessory use shall be charged at the same rate as the underlying use to which it is accessory. In reviewing whether a Development Project is subject to the TSF, the project shall be considered in its entirety. A project sponsor shall not seek multiple applications for building permits to evade paying the TSF for a single Development Project.

   (b)   Change or Replacement of Use. When calculating the TSF for a development project in which there is a Change or Replacement of Use such that the rate charged for the new land use category is higher than the rate charged for the category of the existing legal land use, the TSF per square foot rate shall be the difference between the rate charged for the new and the existing use.

   (c)   Calculation Method for Residential Uses. Areas of Residential use within a project that creates no more than 99 dwelling units shall pay the fee listed in Table 411A.5. When a project creates more than 99 dwelling units, the fees for areas of Residential use shall be calculated as follows: The number of dwelling units greater than 99 shall be divided by the total number of dwelling units created to determine the proportion of the project represented by those dwelling units. The resulting quotient shall be multiplied by the total gross floor area of Residential use in the project. The resulting product represents the number of gross square feet of Residential use in the project that is subject to the higher fee rate in Table 411A.5 for dwelling units above 99. The remainder of gross square feet of Residential use in the project is subject to the lower fee rate in Table 411A.5 for dwelling units at or below 99.

   (d)   Calculation Method for Hospitals. For any project creating a new Hospital use, or expanding an existing Hospital use, as defined in Section 102 of this Code, the number of Gross Square Feet that shall be used to calculate the TSF shall be calculated by the following formula:

 

GSF of New Hospital Use	× (	Net increase of licensed inpatient beds in the City and County of San Francisco created by the proposed Hospital use for the associated licensed hospital operator	)
		Total number of existing licensed inpatient beds in the City and County of San Francisco for the associated licensed hospital operator

 

      This formula calculates the number of gross square feet of the new Hospital use, multiplied by the ratio of the net increase of licensed inpatient beds in the City and County of San Francisco resulting from the proposed Hospital use for the associated licensed hospital operator to the total number of existing licensed inpatient beds in the City and County of San Francisco, including licensed beds at one or more locations, for the associated licensed hospital operator. The gross square feet resulting from this formula shall be subject to the TSF rate set forth in Table 411A.5.

   (e)    Calculation Method for Changes or Replacements of Use, from a Hospital to Any Other Use. If a Hospital use that was previously subject to the TSF undergoes a Change or Replacement of Use to any other use, the rate applicable to the new use shall be applied to any gross square feet of previous Hospital use that was excluded from the fee calculation per the formula established in Section 411A.4(d).

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016)

SEC. 411A.5. TSF SCHEDULE.

   (a)   Development Projects subject to the TSF shall pay the following fees, as adjusted annually in accordance with Planning Code Section 409(b).

Table 411A.5. TSF Schedule
Land Use Categories	TSF
Residential, 21-99 units	$7.74 for all gsf of Residential use in the first 99 dwelling units (see Section 411A.4(c) above).
Residential, all units above 99 units	$8.74 for all gsf of Residential use in all dwelling units at and above the 100th unit (see Section 411A.4(c) above).
Non-Residential, except Hospitals and Health Services, 800-99,999 gsf	$18.04 for all gsf of Non-Residential uses less than 100,000 gsf.
Non-Residential, except Hospitals and Health Services, all gsf above 99,999 gsf, in all areas of the City except the Central South of Market Area Plan	$24.04 for all gsf of Non-Residential use greater than 99,999 gsf.
Non-Residential, except Hospitals and Health Services, all gsf above 99,999 gsf, in the Central South of Market Area Plan	$21.04 for all gsf of Non-Residential use greater than 99,999 gsf.
Hospitals	$18.74 per calculation method set forth in Section 411A.4(d).
Health Services, all gsf above 12,000 gsf	$11.00 for all gsf above 12,000 gsf
Production, Distribution and Repair	$7.61

 

   (b)   Development Projects in the Market & Van Ness Residential Special Use District may propose to pay their TSF in kind, as set forth in Section 249.33.

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and  Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016; amended by Ord. 138-18, File No. 180117, App. 6/20/2018, Eff. 7/21/2018, Oper. 7/21/2018 and 1/12/2019; Ord. 126-20, File No. 200559, App. 7/31/2020, Eff. 8/31/2020)

AMENDMENT HISTORY

Table 411A.5 amended; Ord. 138-18, Oper. 7/21/2018 and 1/12/2019. Division (a) designated; division (b) added; Ord. 126-20, Eff. 8/31/2020.

SEC. 411A.6. TSF EXPENDITURE PROGRAM.

    As set forth in the Nexus Analysis, on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors File No. 230764, TSF funds may only be used to reduce the burden imposed by Development Projects on the City’s transportation system. Expenditures shall be allocated as follows, giving priority to specific projects identified in the different Area Plans:

 

Table 411A.6A. TSF Expenditure Program
Transit Capital Maintenance    Subtotal	61%
Transit Service Expansion & Reliability Improvements - San Francisco    Subtotal	32%
Transit Service Expansion & Reliability Improvements - Regional Transit Providers    Subtotal	2%
Complete Streets (Bicycle and Pedestrian) Improvements    Subtotal	3%
Program Administration	2%
Total	100.0%

 

   Within the Rincon Hill Community Improvements Program Area, per Planning Code Section 418 and the Visitacion Valley Fee Area, per Planning Code Section 420, expenditures shall be allocated as follows:

 

Table 411A.6B. TSF Expenditure Program in Rincon Hill and Visitacion Valley
Transit Capital Maintenance    Subtotal	61%
Transit Service Expansion & Reliability Improvements - San Francisco    Subtotal	35%
Transit Service Expansion & Reliability Improvements - Regional Transit Providers    Subtotal	2%
Complete Streets (Bicycle and Pedestrian) Improvements    Subtotal	0%
Program Administration	2%
Total	100.0%

 

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016; amended by Ord. 193-23, File No. 230764, App. 9/15/2023, Eff. 10/16/2023)

AMENDMENT HISTORY

   Undesignated introductory paragraph amended; Ord. 193-23, Eff. 10/16/2023.

SEC. 411A.7. TSF FUND.

   Money received from collection of the TSF, including earnings from investments of the TSF, shall be held in trust by the Treasurer of the City and County of San Francisco under California Government Code Section 66006 of the Mitigation Fee Act. It shall be distributed according to the fiscal and budgetary provisions of the San Francisco Charter and the Mitigation Fee Act, subject to the following conditions and limitations. As reasonably necessary to mitigate the impacts of new development on the City's public transportation system, TSF funds may be used to fund transit capital maintenance projects, transit capital facilities and fleet, and complete streets (pedestrian and bicycle) infrastructure. These expenditures may include, but are not limited to: capital costs associated with establishing new transit routes, expanding transit routes, and increasing service on existing transit routes, including, but not limited to, procurement of related items such as rolling stock, and design and construction of bus shelters, stations, tracks, and overhead wires; capital or maintenance costs required to add revenue service hours or enhanced capacity to existing routes; capital costs of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, including, but not limited to, sidewalk paving and widening, pedestrian and bicycle signalization of crosswalks or intersection, bicycle lanes within street right-of-way, physical protection of bicycle facilities from motorized traffic, bike sharing, bicycle parking, and traffic calming. Proceeds from the TSF may also be used to administer, enforce, or defend Section 411A.

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and  Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016)

SEC. 411A.8. THREE YEAR REVIEW OF ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY.

   Every three years, or sooner if requested by the Mayor, the Planning Commission, or the Board of Supervisors, the SFMTA shall update the TSF Economic Feasibility Study. This update shall analyze the impact of the TSF on the feasibility of development, throughout the City. This update shall be in addition to the five-year evaluation of all development fees mandated by Section 410 of this Code.

(Added by Ord. 200-15 , File No. 150790, App. 11/25/2015, Eff. 12/25/2015 and  Ord. 222-15 , File No. 155521, App. 12/18/2015, Eff. 1/17/2016)