Japantown Community Benefit District met most benchmarks; OEWD flags accounting of staff time

OEWD Program Director Chris Korgas presented the Japantown Community Benefit District’s FY 2019–20 annual report and told the Government Audit & Oversight Committee that the property‑based CBD met three of four OEWD benchmarks. OEWD flagged a material finding: the CBD had aggregated staff time into a general administrative category rather than distributing staff labor across the service categories where the work occurred, which required further review under the management agreement and Article 13C/13D rules for special benefit reporting.

OEWD said the district pivoted during the pandemic to provide COVID-19 outreach and assistance, including testing, safety-kit distribution, and the Heart of Japantown Resiliency Fund, which raised nearly $500,000 and delivered approximately $5,000 grants to 80 businesses. The CBD also maintains community ambassadors and a camera program (about 119 cameras) coordinated with SFPD. Grace Horikiri, Japantown CBD executive director, described cleaning and safety initiatives, local newsletters and town halls, and the district’s partnerships with Recology and DPW.

Supervisors asked about Peace Plaza, maintenance coordination and a recurring leak into the Japan Center Garage; Horikiri said the garage repairs are city responsibility and that Japantown CBD and Rec & Park remain in close coordination. With no public callers on the item, the committee voted to send the Japantown CBD annual report to the full Board with a positive recommendation (3–0).

OEWD recommended that the CBD adopt timekeeping procedures and ensure CPA statements align with reported service-category expenses to maintain special‑benefit compliance under the City and County of San Francisco management agreement.