Special Finance Districts

San Francisco has adopted numerous special financing districts in order to finance infrastructure improvements benefiting the public in newly developing areas of the City, such as Transbay and Mission Rock. Projects that may be financed by revenues from special finance districts include, but are not limited to streets, water and sewer systems, libraries, parks, and public safety facilities.

Authorized under the City’s Special Tax Financing Law, Community Facilities Districts (CFD) (also known as Mello-Roos Districts) assess a special tax lien against taxable property within a district to fund capital projects and/or ongoing operations and maintenance costs. These districts are typically established either by a two-thirds vote of property owners or registered voters within the district and by approval of the Board of Supervisors.

Infrastructure Finance Districts (IFD), which are authorized under the California State Government Code, allow municipalities to fund improvements within the IFD geographic boundary. IFDs capture increases in property tax revenue stemming from growth in assessed value as a result of new development and uses that revenue to finance infrastructure projects and improvements.

Each district has as a unique implementing agency (or agencies) responsible for the formation process and plan of finance for the use of the special taxes and/or tax increment.

Table 5.5 provides an overview of many of the planned and existing Special Finance Districts in San Francisco.

Table 5.5