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I 6.1 B Page 15 Property Taxes Property tax projections for FY 2010/11 call for a 1% decrease over FY 2009/10 with indications that growth will remain flat in FY 2011/12. The downturn in the housing market has affected the San Francisco Peninsula, although not as severely as some areas of the State. Based on property transfer tax revenues it appears that the housing market is still not showing signs of recovery and that assessed values will not be increasing significantly in the nearterm. Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund Refunds In FY 1992/93 and FY 1993/94, the State shifted property taxes from cities, counties, and special districts to school districts to supplant funding that the State was providing to school districts. The funds shifted from cities, the county, and special districts are placed into the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund by the county controller. The controller then disburses these funds to school districts based upon the formula prescribed by State law. Any funds remaining in the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (after the distribution to the school districts) are returned to the cities, county, and special districts in proportion to the amount they contributed to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund. The continued receipt of these funds, which amounted to $3.9 million in FY 2009/10 and $3.0 million in FY 2008/09, depends upon the complicated school financing formula and the State legislature not redirecting these revenues elsewhere. Long-Term Financial Planning The City Council has made economic development a high priority and has directed staff to develop strategies in support of this goal. Staff has been supporting this focus area through a range of efforts including the completion of significant City-sponsored plans, review of major private development proposals, and key initiatives that will directly support economic development throughout the community with special attention paid to downtown. The City adopted a new General Plan which includes considerable improvements to the City's basis for overseeing new development. The new General Plan is not an update of its 1990 plan, but rather an entirely new blueprint for the City, including an evolved land use designation map. Newly allowed development options have been designated based on broad community input and the plan is receiving consistent and strong interest from developers, including the submittal of conceptual plans for three large-scale multi-family residential development proposals which will become allowed under the new plan. The Downtown Precise Plan is another City-led planning effort which is nearing completion. This plan is intended to encourage significant private investment in downtown. It will contain explicit development guidelines that will cover all aspects of sites and building. Developers interested in undertaking projects in the downtown area will be provided with a clear understanding of the type of projects that the City and public desire. By providing such clear guidance the City hopes that this will assist investors and developers contemplating downtown projects. Recently the City supported the completion of a multi-year review process for a multi-family residential project. The project, One Marina, has been amended appreciably by the developer over an almost ten year period. The most recent revision is considered the final form and the developer is seeking building and construction permits for the first of 231 condominium units. The City has provided financing support for much needed infrastructure by establishing a Mello-Roos Community Facilities District. A hotel site is part of the overall entitlements and is protected for fifteen years in a development agreement. In anticipation of the hotel market improving over time, City staff will actively pursue hoteliers for this highly attractive waterfront property. Since the spring of 2009 the City has begun to comprehensively assess a significant development proposal for the Cargill Saltworks property — 1,400 acres of land east of U.S. Highway 101 that continues to be used for extracting salt from the San Francisco Bay. The proposal submitted by DMB Associates envisions 50% of the property to be used for a mix of housing, retail, and commercial uses while the remaining 50% would be dedicated to wetlands restoration, open space, and recreation. iv