GAO reviews CBD annual reports; OEWD finds four districts met reporting benchmarks

At a joint presentation May 5, the Office of Economic & Workforce Development told the Government Audit & Oversight Committee that four Community Benefit Districts met OEWD’s review benchmarks for their annual reports and CPAs, while offering recommendations tied mostly to administrative practices.

Chris Korgas of OEWD summarized the four benchmarks: budget alignment with each district’s management plan; confirmation that non‑assessment revenue obligations were met; verification of acceptable variances between budgeted and actuals; and identification and designation of any carry forward funds in annual reports. Korgas said Civic Center, Mid Market, North of Market/Tenderloin and East Cut met the benchmarks and positioned each to continue their missions.

Tenderloin CBD Director Simon Bertrain said the district doubled its assessment in the 2019 renewal, expanded to 48 blocks in 2020, and shifted the bulk of funding to cleaning and safe‑passage services. Bertrain highlighted investments including a third pressure‑washing truck, additional trash pickup capacity, 68 BigBelly trash cans and $200,000 in mini grants to help 80 small businesses early in the pandemic. OEWD noted the Tenderloin experienced delays in submitting full annual reports and financial statements in the reporting period, which the district attributed to a bookkeeping provider change exacerbated by COVID‑19.

Tracy Everwine presented the Civic Center and Mid Market CBDs, reporting a Civic Center annual budget of about $3.2 million after district expansion and detailing pandemic‑era outreach (sanitizing, meal deliveries through East Cut Eats) and business marketing efforts. East Cut’s presentation reported a FY19‑20 budget of roughly $4.5 million with about half directed to cleaning and safety and 40% to park maintenance and programming.

After presentations and limited committee questioning (including clarification that some reporting delays were pandemic‑related), the committee voted to forward items 2–5 to the full Board with a positive recommendation.

What to watch: Board consideration of the annual reports and any OEWD recommendations at the May 17 Board meeting, and OEWD follow‑up on Tenderloin reporting processes.