SF will lend its zoo up to $8.5M, repaid over 10 years

San Francisco
Board of Supervisors Meeting
May 19, 2026

TL;DR

• The SF Zoo can borrow up to $8.5M from the city, repaid over 10 years from its management fee.
• Supervisors placed liens on hundreds of properties for unpaid code-enforcement charges, after striking 32 that were paid or resolved.
• The board moved $10,421,751 into overtime for the Fire Department, emergency management, and the Public Utilities Commission.
• Supervisors overhauled the city's boards and commissions on a divided 6-4 vote.
• The board let the mayor's office solicit donations for economic revitalization for six months, over one no vote.

What happened

1. SF Zoo gets a city loan of up to $8.5 million
   1. The SF Zoo can borrow up to $8.5 million from the city to support its operations and long-term finances. The zoo would repay it over 10 years through deductions from its management fee. If the zoo falls behind, the city can end the lease and management agreement. A separate vote moved $2.5 million from open-space acquisition funds to fund the loan this fiscal year.
   2. What this means for you: This puts up to $8.5 million in public money behind the zoo, repaid from the zoo's own management fee rather than from new taxes. The source materials do not say what would happen to the zoo without it.
2. Liens added to hundreds of properties over unpaid building-code charges
   1. Hundreds of properties with unpaid building-code charges will get liens, putting the debts on their tax bills. Before the vote, staff pulled 32 line items because those charges had been paid or resolved. The full report listed 424 line items citywide, with the largest single assessment at $107,462.76.
   2. What this means for you: A lien turns the unpaid charges into a special assessment on the property and adds them to the tax roll. Owners who disputed their charges could object at the hearing, and the board removed the 32 it found resolved or paid.
3. Fire, emergency, and utility crews get $10,421,751 for overtime
   1. The Fire Department, emergency management, and the Public Utilities Commission will get $10,421,751 in added overtime funding this fiscal year. The money comes from $1,589,223 in Fire Department revenue and $8,832,528 moved out of salaries and benefits across the three departments. The Fire Department's $7,992,170 appropriation needed a two-thirds vote, and all 10 supervisors present backed it.
   2. What this means for you: This keeps overtime funded at the Fire Department, emergency management, and the utility through the rest of the budget year. It reshuffles funds the city already had, drawing on department revenue and salary and benefit budgets rather than new taxes.
4. Supervisors reorganize the city's boards and commissions, 6-4
   1. Supervisors reorganized the city's boards and commissions on a divided 6-4 vote. The new law sets terms and term limits for these bodies, abolishes some, and renames others or converts them to advisory bodies. It also moves most boards and commissions into a single part of the city's Administrative Code. Supervisors Chan, Chen, Melgar, and Walton voted no.
   2. What this means for you: This is a structural change to the city's appointed boards and commissions, not a change to any service or fee. Their reasons were not stated during the meeting.
5. Mayor's office cleared to solicit donations for six months
   1. For the next six months, the mayor's office can ask nonprofits, foundations, and others to donate money toward economic revitalization. The board waived a city ethics rule that normally limits officials from soliciting these kinds of donations. The waiver covers the mayor, the mayor's staff, and the city's economic development director and their reports. Supervisor Chan cast the only no vote.
   2. What this means for you: For six months, the mayor's office has more room to raise private money for economic revitalization. Behested-payment rules normally restrict officials from soliciting donations to outside groups, and the board set that restriction aside.

What residents brought up

• Ella Hill Hutch Community Center. Dozens of speakers filled public comment over the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in the Fillmore, even though no related item was on the agenda. Supporters tied to the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center urged the board to approve a 13-month lease for the center. They said a delay would cost 95 children's program slots and 60 teen summer jobs. Other speakers, including a former supervisor and longtime pastor, said the process had happened behind closed doors. They asked the board to hold any vote until the community agreed on shared leadership.
• HIV budget cuts. Many speakers thanked the board for honoring HIV long-term survivors. They then warned that the mayor's proposed budget would cut HIV prevention and harm-reduction programs. Speakers from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the HIV Advocacy Network, and long-term survivors urged the board to protect that funding. They cited figures including $2.2 million in cuts to HIV community organizations and $1.5 million from harm reduction. Several asked the board to honor the San Francisco Principles it previously adopted and to reverse the cuts in the coming budget.
• Emergency firefighting water. Several speakers raised the city's emergency firefighting water system for the west and south sides. They said the Public Utilities Commission spent $1.44 billion across three bonds but built no high-pressure hydrants or water mains there. Speakers from the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods and a fire-protection group cited retired fire chiefs and captains opposed to the proposed west-side system. They warned of fire risk like the Pacific Palisades fires after the next major earthquake.

Also happened

• Cleared a first vote on a new Hate Crime Reward Fund, which returns for a final vote.
• Backed two outside bills: state SB 1422 to restore full-scope Medi-Cal for undocumented adults, and a federal crime-survivor support act.
• Moved to renew the Downtown Community Benefit District, with a public hearing set for July 21.
• Adopted several commemorations, including HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day and National Nurses Month, among others.
• Created a Downtown Hospitality Zone near 5th and Market; this year's SB1 street-repair project list also passed.
• Approved official city newspapers for next year, a Hunters Point Shipyard parks maintenance deal, and an AirZeta airport lease running through 2033.

For any updates or corrections, please email steven@polisdesk.com