San Francisco, California, City Responsibility for Street Trees and Sidewalks Amendment, Proposition E (November 2016)

• Text of measure
  • Ballot question
• Path to the ballot
• See also
  • External links
  • Footnotes
• More
  • Local ballot measures
  • State ballot measures
  • Local politics

Proposition E: San Francisco City Responsibility for Street Trees and Sidewalks Amendment
The basics
Election date:
November 8, 2016
Status:
a Approved
Topic:
Local property
Related articles
Local property on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California San Francisco County, California ballot measures Local charter amendments on the ballot
See also
San Francisco, California

A charter amendment concerning street trees and sidewalks was on the ballot for San Francisco voters in San Francisco County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was approved.

A yes vote was a vote in favor of shifting responsibility for maintenance of trees along public streets and surrounding sidewalks from private property owners to the city and allocating $19 million per year from the general fund to pay for the maintenance.

A no vote was a vote against this proposition, thereby leaving private property owners responsible for the maintenance of street trees and surrounding sidewalks.

Election results

Proposition E
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		283,009	78.59%
No		77,078	21.41%

Election results from San Francisco Department of Elections

Text of measure

Ballot question

The following question appeared on the ballot:

“

Shall the City amend the Charter to transfer responsibility from property owners to the City for maintaining trees on sidewalks around their property as well as sidewalks damaged by the trees, and pay for this by setting aside $19 million per year from its General Fund, adjusted annually based on City revenues?

”

Simplification digest

The following summary of Proposition E was provided by San Francisco's Ballot Simplification Committee:

“ The Way It Is Now: City law generally requires property owners to maintain trees in the public sidewalk area next to their property as well as the sidewalk around those trees. A property owner is usually liable for injuries and property damage other people may suffer resulting from the owner’s failure to maintain those trees and sidewalks damaged by those trees. The San Francisco Unified School District (School District) is responsible for maintaining trees on its property. The Proposal: Proposition E is a Charter amendment that would transfer responsibility from property owners to the City for maintaining trees and sidewalks damaged by the trees. The City would then be liable for injuries and property damage resulting from failure to maintain the trees and to repair sidewalks damaged by the trees. The City would pay for maintaining these trees and sidewalks by setting aside $19 million per year from the City’s General Fund, adjusted annually based on the City’s revenue. The City could give up to $500,000 per year from the set-aside to the School District to help pay for the cost of maintaining trees on public school property. Until January 1, 2017, the Mayor would have the authority to terminate the fund and the set-aside, based on the Mayor’s review of the City’s financial condition. A “YES” Vote Means: If you vote “yes,” you want to amend the Charter to transfer responsibility from property owners to the City for maintaining trees on sidewalks around their property as well as sidewalks damaged by the trees. The City would pay for this by setting aside $19 million per year from its General Fund, adjusted annually based on City revenues. A “NO” Vote Means: If you vote “no,” you do not want to make these changes. ”

Fiscal impact

The following fiscal impact statement about Proposition E was provided by the San Francisco Controller:

“ City Controller Ben Rosenfield has issued the following statement on the fiscal impact of Proposition E: Should the proposed charter amendment be approved by the voters, in my opinion, it would significantly increase the cost of government. The proposed amendment would require general fund contribution to a newly created fund, the Street Tree Maintenance Fund, of $19 million beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2017–18. This fund would be used to pay for City services to maintain street trees as of July 1, 2017. The cost to the City in FY 2017–18 would be $13.5 million as the City has already budgeted $5.5 million for these services. In subsequent years, contributions to the fund would be adjusted by the aggregate change in the City’s overall discretionary revenue. The City would be able to temporarily suspend the required budget increases in any year in which a general fund deficit of $200 million or more was forecast. This proposed amendment is not in compliance with a non-binding, voter-adopted city policy regarding set-asides. The policy seeks to limit set-asides which reduce General Fund dollars that could otherwise be allocated by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors in the annual budget process. ”

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Media editorials

Support

• The Bay Area Reporter recommended a yes vote for Proposition E.

• San Francisco Bay Guardian: "It’s silly that this is such a big deal and had to wind up on the ballot, after much back-and-forth and political argument, but it’s a big deal in a lot of neighborhoods. The Department of Public Works, looking to save some cash, a couple of years ago decided that the trees that populate many local sidewalks would no longer be the city’s problem and would suddenly be the responsibility of the nearest property owner. The result: Trees aren’t getting maintained, and some owners are ready to cut them down so they don’t have to pay for trimming every few years. Prop. E would return this job to the city, where it always used to be. The $19 million cost will be covered by a remarkably progressive parcel tax based on the frontage size of a lot. No reason to oppose it."

• San Francisco Examiner: "The measure would reverse a 2012 decision that put responsibility of The City’s 105,000 street trees into the hands of property owners, a terrible move that left property owners footing the bill and bearing the responsibility for neighborhood assets. The City needs to take back care of the trees and promote growing our tree canopy, which now ranks among the nation’s smallest for an urban area. The system, as it stands, has meant neglect and death for many of The City’s street trees."

Opposition

• San Francisco Chronicle: "San Francisco is running a near $10 billion budget. The civic bill for tree care is pegged at $20 million. There should be room for this expense without carving out a program that can’t be changed. The Board of Supervisors and Mayor Ed Lee are in favor of this measure, but they already have the power to spend money to protect trees. They can do so without a voter-mandated set-aside. Vote NO."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in California

This measure was put on the ballot through a unanimous vote of the San Francisco board of supervisors.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms San Francisco Trees and Sidewalks Amendment Proposition E. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

San Francisco, California, City Responsibility for Street Trees and Sidewalks Amendment, Proposition E (November 2016) - Google News

See also

Local measures

• Local measures in 2016
• Local property on the ballot
• Local charter amendments on the ballot
• San Francisco County measures

California

• November 8, 2016 measures in California
• Local ballot measures, California
• San Francisco, California

News and analysis

• State and local preemption conflicts
• Measures advancing national agendas

External links

Suggest a link

• San Francisco County Elections Office website