September2005

MiniFestiva 2005:
Going, Going, Gone—Call to Get Your Space Now!
Don't miss out on a fun event and a great chance for networking, marketing and getting in front of many property owners! We've only got 42 spaces and they're going quickly—call now to ensure your spot—the deadline is August 15. This year's theme is tamales; businesses can choose from four sponsorship types—from a $200 regular participant level to the $3,000 “Whole Enchilada” package (with premier stage space, co-branding, promotional material and signage, etc.).
When: September 19, 2005, 6 p.m.
(deadline to reserve space: August 15)
Where: Fort Mason Center, Building A, San Francisco

Make sure you're there to mingle, strengthen relationships and make new contacts. Tables will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Call Jennifer Finlay, MiniFestiva coordinator, at 415-255-2288 ext. 10, to reserve a table or for more information.

Water-Rate Passthrough Approved
At a July 19 public hearing, the San Francisco Rent Board Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of new regulations allowing landlords to pass through half of their bond-related water-rate increases to tenants, effective immediately. The increases are being assessed for repayment of the water system-improvement revenue bonds approved by voters as Proposition A in November 2002.

Two new sections have now been added to the Rent Board's Rules and Regulations, addressing the procedure for imposing the passthroughs and the process for tenant challenges of possible improper passthroughs. Landlords are not required to file a passthrough petition, but the increase can be imposed only on a tenant's anniversary date.

Water bills have already been reformatted to reflect the rate increase. A separate line item now shows what share of the bill can be attributed to the bond; 50% of that amount can now be passed through to tenants.

A bond passthrough worksheet is now available from the Rent Board (www.sfgov.org/rentboard).

The CBDs are Coming
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in public hearings on July 26 and August 2, approved formation of central business districts, or CBDs, for Fisherman's Wharf, Castro/Upper Market, Noe Valley and the 2500 block of Mission Street. Also known as business improvement districts, CBDs are the joint effort of a neighborhood's proprietors and property owners, who agree to pay an extra tax in order to secure additional maintenance, cleaning, security and other services for their district. The board has yet to approve a proposed CBD for part of the Tenderloin.

San Francisco until now has had just one such entity—the Union Square Business Improvement District, formed in 1999. But San Diego-based consulting firm New City America has stormed San Francisco over the last several months, securing permission to investigate and initiate formation of CBDs in several parts of the city.

CBDs have been lauded as an effective means of cleaning up and better maintaining the neighborhoods in which they are enacted. Opponents say they don't see the point of paying an extra tax to have someone else do work that's already being done, such as sweeping sidewalks and trash removal. Some property owners have even voiced concern that they may have to lay off existing maintenance staff to afford the extra assessment.

The per-parcel tax is determined by adding up lot size, linear frontage (sidewalk space) and a building's usable square footage. The rate on the latter varies depending on a building's particular use, with discounts afforded to churches, tax-exempt and non-profit organizations, affordable and rent-controlled residential housing. At Fisherman's Wharf, for example, in addition to the lot-size and frontage rates, a hotel would be assessed $.07 per square foot, while a rent-controlled residential building would instead be taxed $.03 per square foot.

The assessment will be levied annually for 15 years in the Fisherman's Wharf CBD, totaling nearly $9 million for the life of the district. The Noe Valley and Castro/Upper Market CBDs were also approved for 15 years of assessment, during which time Noe Valley is budgeted to bring in some $3.3 million, and Castro/Upper Market nearly $6 million. The 2500 Block of Mission CBD will be taxed annually for just five years, bringing in a total $375,000 by fiscal year 2009-10. If approved for formation, the North of Market/Tenderloin CBD would collect nearly $14 million over 15 years. New City America has also been contracted to investigate the formation of CBDs for Market Street, the Fillmore and Japantown.

Landlord 101 Seminar at Fort Mason
Wednesdays, October 5th & 12th, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
Landlord 101 is a two-part seminar designed for small rental-property owners. Facilitated by landlord attorneys Dave Wasserman and Jeff Woo, the seminars will cover rental-property-management topics from the application process at the beginning of the tenancy to security-deposit disposition at the tenancy's end. See the ad on page 55 for more information and to register.

New Guidelines for Mold-Remediation Workers
The National Multi-Family Council and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have come out with guidelines for protecting and training mold-hazard assessors, mold-remediation workers and workers exposed to mold in the course of maintaining building systems. For a full report see www.nmhc.org.

What's In a Name?
San Francisco Apartment Magazine is planning a feature story that will highlight local apartment buildings which have interesting names and, more important, the local lore behind those names. Was your property simply named after the corner on which it sits, or did some history, mystery or scandal spawn its moniker? If your building's name has a great backstory—or you know of one that does—we want to hear from you. For consideration, submit the property's location, name and a brief summary of what you know or have heard about that name's origin to Assistant Editor Shelly Leachman.