Committee moves Botanical Garden lease amendment to full Board after debate over flexible pricing and free resident admission

The Budget & Finance Committee on Feb. 9 advanced a resolution that would amend the city's lease and management agreement to give the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society responsibility for the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the Japanese Tea Garden and the Conservatory of Flowers and sent the measure to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. The committee paused consideration of a companion ordinance to waive admission fees for San Francisco residents (and for nonresident veterans) and to reauthorize flexible pricing for nonresident adults, continuing that item for further refinement and reporting.

The changes proposed by the Recreation and Park Department would unify admissions, education and outreach functions across the three institutions now managed under separate agreements. Eric Anderson, superintendent of Parks and Open Space, told the committee the intent is to improve visitor access, expand education and volunteer programming, and secure a revenue stream for a Garden Improvement Fund to pay for capital projects such as restroom renovations, irrigation and historic-building preservation.

The Budget Legislative Analyst's office (BLA) cautioned committee members that the existing Botanical Garden Society agreement was not competitively procured and could be extended through 2043, calling approval a policy decision for the Board. BLA staff estimated that eliminating resident admission fees and extending free entry to nonresident veterans would reduce admissions revenue by roughly $271,000 and $300,000 respectively, a combined shortfall of about $570,000 annually. BLA noted the department proposes offsetting some lost revenue by using flexible pricing for nonresident adults and other revenue measures; the department's materials show admissions revenues and proposed allocations to the Rec & Park operating and garden improvement funds in supporting exhibits.

Supervisors' questions focused on two things: oversight of a sole-source management arrangement and the scope of the flexible-pricing authority. Supervisor Chan (D1) said she supports free admission for residents but pressed Rec & Park and the BLA for a clearer, data-driven threshold for fee increases rather than open-ended flexibility. She asked whether flexible pricing has ever produced a price decrease and urged that group-ticket and discount language be explicit in the ordinance. Dana Ketchum, Rec & Park's director of property and permits, said that in practice the department has not previously implemented decreases but that the flexible-pricing framework was designed to permit off-peak reductions (for construction, partial closures or to encourage weekday visits) and to support a joint multi-garden ticket.

Rec & Park and the department's presentation noted the park-code base fee handled by the controller's fee schedule, and that the ordinance as drafted would allow temporary increases of up to 50 percent above that base with at least 30 days' notice; staff said that amount corresponded to an illustrative maximum near $15 in current terms after CPI adjustments and benchmarking against other local attractions. Committee discussion produced an agreement in principle to add oversight and reporting: Rec & Park offered to provide annual reports on the use of flexible pricing and its impact on attendance and revenue, and staff said they could add reporting language or performance terms to strengthen fiscal oversight.

Public commenters were largely supportive of the merger and the free-admission policy for San Franciscans; several representatives of botanical and conservation organizations told the committee that flexible pricing and philanthropic support are important to sustain capital maintenance and conservation work. Other callers expressed concern about accountability and the absence of competitive procurement, asking for transparent audits and stronger performance metrics in the agreement.

After discussion, the committee voted to forward the lease-and-management resolution to the full Board with a positive recommendation and to continue the fee ordinance for one week (to the Feb. 16 Budget & Finance meeting) so members could negotiate language to add reporting, consider a not-to-exceed cap, and refine the mechanism for annual adjustments.